Many materials have important uses if they can be made in the form of thin films.
The MSRI analyzer will make it possible to markedly improve material properties and manufacturing processes in the semiconductor and electronic industries. It was invented by Vincent S. Smentkowski, Alan R. Krauss and Dieter M. Gruen of Argonne, and J. Albert Schultz and John C. Holecek of Ionwerks, Houston. Argonne's second award is for work on a process that can help convert corn into a chemical feedstock for manufacturing clothing, fibers, paint, ink, food additives, and an array of other industrial and consumer products. The process ferments glucose sugar from corn into succinic acid, which can then be converted into a chemical feedstock. The process was developed by Shih-Perng Tsai, Mark Donnelly, Cynthia Savville Millard and May M. Wu of Argonne, along with scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colo., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Wash., and Applied CarboChemicals, a private firm in Pennsylvania.