Research Area Descriptors

Dr Butler's research is mainly based on the surface metrology of manufacturing processes. The surface can be considered as a fingerprint of the manufacturing process providing information about the material properties as well as the machining and environmental conditions. Through improved understanding of the surface it is possible to provide additional insight into the manufacturing process.  While at Birmingham from 1993 to 1999, Dr Butler worked as a Research Associate and subsequently as a Research Fellow for a number of research groups including Surface Metrology, Metal Forming and Micro-engineering and Nano-technology Research Centre. Dr Butler was associated with the European Union  Project to develop a three-dimensional standard for topographic characterisation and, in particular, its application to the automotive industry. He also carried out a wide range of consulting for industry including companies such as Leyland Trucks, BICERI Ltd, Timken and GKN. 

Dr Butler's work at NTU involves the metrological understanding of various manufacturing processes including chemical mechanical polishing, precision surface grinding, and the sintering of biomaterial implants. Currently he has a team of 2 Research Fellows and 10 graduate students working on various academic and industrial-sponsored projects. Collaborators include Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ongoing projects include the development of new models to predict the removal rate for CMP for semiconductor industry as well as grinding models for the machining of aerospace alloys.

• Seng, L.C., Blackburn, T.L., Ng, S.H., Chun, Y., Butler, D.L., Danyluk, S., Nanometric material removal using the electrokinetic phenomenon.  Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 6800, art. no. 680028. (2008)

• Toh, A.G.G., Nolan, M.G., Cai, R., Butler, D.L., Reversible wetting of Titanium dioxide films. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 6800, art. no. 680004. (2008)

• D. X. Hou, D. L. Butler, L. M. He and H. Y. Zheng, Experimental study on low pulse energy processing with femtosecond lasers for glaucoma treatment, Lasers in Medical Science, available on-line 29^th January (2008)

• Sim Kit Wang, Dong Seng Liu,  Feng Chen, David Lee Butler, The Evaluation and Modeling of the Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Removal Rate for Polysilicon, International Journal of Nanoscience,  Vol 4, No 4 pp 753-760. (2005)

• T.A. Nguyen and D.L. Butler, Correlation Length –Based Sampling Conditions for Various Engineering Surfaces, Measurement Science and Technology, 16, pp 1813 – 1822, (2005)

• T.A. Nguyen and D.L. Butler, Simulation of Surface Grinding Process, Part 1: Generation of the Grinding Wheel Surface, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, Vol 45 pp 1321 -1328. (2005)

• Sam Zhang, Xuan Lam Bui, Yongqing Fu, David L. Butler and Hejun Du, Bias-graded deposition of diamond-like carbon for tribological applications, Diamond and Related Materials, Volume 13, Issues 4-8, April-August 2004, Pages 867-871

• Jianxia Gao, Erjia Liu, David Lee Butler and Aiping Zeng, Compositional depth profile analysis of coatings on hard disks by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and imaging, Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 176, Issue 1, November-December 2003, Pages 93-102

• D. L. Butler, L. A. Blunt, B. K. See, J. A. Webster and K. J. Stout, The characterisation of grinding wheels using 3D surface measurement techniques, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Volume 127, Issue 2, 30 September 2002, Pages 234-237

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