Associate Professor
Phone: (775) 784-1797
Fax: (775) 327-5059
Office: LMR 471
E-mail: lacomj@unr.edu

Education

• B.S. Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1992
• Ph. D. Materials Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1998

Research Interests

• Dendritic crystal growth;
• Micro and nanostructural interfaces (structure and behavior), interfacial stability;
• Microstructural design in solidification processing;
• Mechanical milling of nanoscale materials;
• Float-zone silicon crystal growth.

Recent Publications

• G.P. Sklar, K. Paramguru, M. Misra, and J.C. LaCombe, "Pulsed electrodeposition into AAO templates for CVD growth of carbon nanotube arrays," Nanotechnology, 16 (2005) 1265-1271.
• M.B. Koss, J.C. LaCombe, A. Chait, V. Pines, M. Zlatkowski, M.E. Glicksman, and P. Kar, "Pressure-mediated effects on thermal dendrites," Journal of Crystal Growth, 279 (2005) 170-185.
• P. Kar, J.C. LaCombe, and M.B. Koss, "Velocity and radius transients during pressure-mediated dendritic growth of succinonitrile," Materials Science & Technology, 20 (2004) 1273-1280.
• C. Giummarra, J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, J.E. Frei, A.O. Lupulescu, and M.E. Glicksman, "Sidebranch characteristics of pivalic acid dendrites grown under convection-free and diffuso-convective conditions," Journal of Crystal Growth, 274 (2004) 317-330.
• J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, J.E. Frei, C. Giummarra, A.O. Lupulescu, and M.E. Glicksman, "Evidence for tip velocity oscillations in dendritic solidification," Physical Review E, 65 [3] 031604/1-6 (2002).
• J.C. LaCombe and M.B. Koss, "The make-it-yourself drop-tower microgravity demonstrator," The Physics Teacher, 83 [3] 143-146 (2000).
• M.B. Koss, J.C. LaCombe, L.A. Tennenhouse, M.E. Glicksman, and E.A. Winsa, "Dendritic growth tip velocities and radii of curvature in microgravity," Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 30A [12] 3177-3190 (1999).
• D.P. Corrigan, M.B. Koss, J.C. LaCombe, K.D. de Jager, L.A. Tennenhouse, and M.E. Glicksman, "Experimental measurements of sidebranching in thermal dendrites under terrestrial-gravity and microgravity conditions," Physical Review E, 60 [6] 7217-7223 (1999).
• J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, D.C. Corrigan, A.O. Lupulescu, L.A. Tennenhouse, and M.E. Glicksman, "Implications of the interface shape on steady-state dendritic crystal growth," Journal of Crystal Growth, 206 [4] 331-344 (1999).
• J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, M.E. Glicksman, "Nonconstant tip velocity in microgravity dendritic growth," Physical Review Letters, 83 [15] 2997-3000 (1999).
• S.K. Kailasam, J.C. LaCombe, and M.E. Glicksman, "Evaluation of the methods for calculating the concentration-dependent diffusivity in binary systems," Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 30A [10] 2605-2610 (1999).
• N. Provatas, N. Goldenfeld, J. Dantzig, J.C. LaCombe, A. Lupulescu, M.B. Koss, M.E. Glicksman, and R. Almgren, "Crossover scaling in dendritic evolution at low undercooling," Physical Review Letters, 82 [22] 4496-4499 (1999).
• J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, L.A. Tennenhouse, E.A. Winsa, and M.E. Glicksman, "The Clapeyron effect in succinonitrile: applications to crystal growth," Journal of Crystal Growth, 194 [1] 143-148 (1998).
• L.A. Tennenhouse, M.B. Koss, J.C. LaCombe, and M.E. Glicksman, "Use of microgravity to interpret dendritic growth kinetics at small supercoolings," Journal of Crustal Growth, 174 [1-4] 82-89 (1997).
• J.C. LaCombe, J.L. Oudemool, M.B. Koss, L.T. Bushnell, and M.E. Glicksman, "Measurement of thermal expansion in liquid succinonitrile and pivalic acid," Journal of Crystal Growth, 173 [1-2] 167-171 (1997).
• M.B. Koss, M.E. Glicksman, L.T. Bushnell, and J.C. LaCombe, "The effect of convection on dendritic growth under microgravity conditions," Chemical Engineering Communications, 152/153 (1996) 351-363.
• M.E. Glicksman, M.B. Koss, L.T. Bushnell, J.C. LaCombe, and E.A. Winsa, "Dendritic growth of succinonitrile in terrestrial and microgravity conditions as a test of theory," 35 [6] 604-610 (1995).
• J.C. LaCombe, M.B. Koss, V.E. Fradkov, and M.E. Glicksman, "Three-dimensional dendrite-tip morphology," Physical Review E, 52 [3] 2778-2786 (1995).
• C.S. Kim, J.C. LaCombe, and J.M. Galligan, "On the temperature dependence of creep at low temperature - the influence of viscosity," Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, 24 [10] 1965-1969 (1990).