Accelerating Materials Discovery with Rapid Fabricate-Measure-Compute Loops

- Two Experimental Facilities
- 120,000 samples made to-date
- A new sample is produced every few seconds to minutes

What we do:

We use high-throughput fabrication and characterization techniques to make and measure a new sample every few seconds to minutes. Both discovery and ML training based on experimental data produced on the same experimental platform

Our Facilities:

We develop and operate two facilities focusing on improving materials properties based on surface architecture (Laser Self-Driving Lab)
and composition & crystallinity (Discovery Lab)

Cross-cutting Applications, Multiple Functions:

- Closed loop materials discovery
- High-throughput experimentation - 120k experimental datasets to date
- Experimental data foundry for new ML model develoment

Funding

This research was made possible with funding support by:

Publications:

V. Zorba, M. Park, J. Carter, S. Awasthi, K. Ito, and C. Grigoropoulos, “Laser Processing in Accelerated Materials Discovery,” in Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing (LAMOM) XXXI, SPIE, 2026, pp. PC138800K. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3089078

J. Carter, K. Ito, S. Awasthi, S. Li, T. Schutzius, M. Park, D. Paeng, D. Klunder, J. Myatt, S. Coskun, L. Sanchez de Almeida Prado, R. Antelo, A.-L. Cadene, and V. Zorba, “High-Throughput Laser Processing towards Autonomous Discovery of Anti-Icing Materials,” in Laser-Based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XX, SPIE, 2026, pp. PC138810K. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3082873

M. Park, S. Verma, A. LaPotin, D. P. Nizamian, R. Prasher, A. Henry, S. D. Lubner, C. P. Grigoropoulos, and V. Zorba, “High-Emissivity, Thermally Robust Emitters for High Power Density Thermophotovoltaics,” Joule 9, 7 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2025.102005

M. Park, V. Zorba, C. P. Grigoropoulos, S. Lubner, and R. S. Prasher, “Broadband Emitters for Thermal Radiative Energy Transport,” US Patent (2025). US20250260511A1

L. Grbcic, M. Park, J. Müller, V. Zorba, and W. A. de Jong, “Artificial Intelligence Driven Laser Parameter Search: Inverse Design of Photonic Surfaces Using Greedy Surrogate-Based Optimization,” Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, vol. 143, pp. 109971, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2024.109971

L. Grbcic, M. Park, M. Elzouka, R. Prasher, J. Mueller, C. P. Grigoropoulos, S. D. Lubner, V. Zorba, and W. A. de Jong, “Inverse Design of Photonic Surfaces via Multi-Fidelity Ensemble Framework and Femtosecond Laser Processing,” npj Computational Materials, vol. 11, no. 1, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-025-01518-4

J. Carter, V. Zorba, M. Park, K. Ito, and R. Montis, “Multifunctional and Durable Engineered Glass for PV Applications,” in Laser-Based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XIX, SPIE, 2025, pp. PC1335109. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3044771

M. Park, L. Grbčić, P. Motameni, S. Song, A. Singh, D. Malagrino, M. Elzouka, P. H. Vahabi, A. Todeschini, and W. A. de Jong, “Inverse Design of Photonic Surfaces via High-Throughput Femtosecond Laser Processing and Tandem Neural Networks,” Advanced Science, 2024. doi: 10.1002/advs.202401951

E. Ji, D. Ko, C. H. Yang, V. Zorba, J.H. Park, K. Lee, M. Park, “Polarization-Controlled Femtosecond Laser Texturing Enables Robust Antifouling Stainless Steel Surfaces” Molecules 2026, 31(3), 480. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31030480

Y. Gu, A. Musgrove, D. Collins-Wildman, V. Battaglia, R. Kostecki, and V. Zorba, “Enhancing Silicon Anode Stability: Ultrashort Laser Micropatterning of Cu Current Collector for Li-ion Batteries,” in Laser-Based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XIX, SPIE, 2025, pp. PC1335105. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3044913

S. Awasthi, T. Brugarolas, J. Carter, K. Ito, and V. Zorba, Towards autonomous discovery of terahertz devices via integrated design fabrication characterization loop, SPIE, 2026, pp. PC13895-12

Autonomous Discovery & Self-driving Labs