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Experiments in Micro-/Nano- Characterization of Material Surfaces

Abstract

This paper describes major revisions made in Spring quarter of AY 2006-7 to a 4-quarter credit hour upper-division technical elective course on Micro- and Nano- Characterization of Material Surfaces. The course was first offered in the Spring quarter of AY 2005-6, and has 3 hours/week of lectures and a 2 hours/week laboratory segment. The course is now a part of a concentration program in Nanotechnology and MEMS being developed under a department-level reform grant from the National Science Foundation to the department of microelectronic engineering. To accommodate brief reviews of differential equations and materials science concepts, the course now covers only two families of experimental techniques: x-ray diffraction and scanning probe microscopy. At the end of each of the eight experiments, each student pair is given a different experimental dataset to analyze. Students submit their analyses and results in a written lab report. The paper describes the format of the lab reports, and compares course evaluations by students before and after the revisions were made.

Introduction

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a predominantly undergraduate teaching university with an emphasis on applied research in five focus areas: imaging, microsystems, astrophysics, manufacturing, and information technology. It offers PhD degrees in both Imaging Science and Microsystems Engineering. Multidisciplinary research in these two areas is supported by the Center of Imaging Science, Information Technology Collaboratory (a NY State designated Strategically Targeted Academic Research Center), and Semiconductor & Microsystems Fabrication Laboratories (SMFL). Materials characterization and testing needs in these research projects are partially met by equipment available in the Advanced Materials Lab (AML).

AML is the only facility at RIT that has equipment for scanning probe microscopy (SPM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), micro- and nano- indentation, and quantitative imaging. With greater participation of undergraduate students in research projects involving microelectronic thin films, photo-voltaic materials, MEMS devices and nano-crystalline tribological coatings, AML has experienced a surge in demand for its materials characterization and testing services in the last five years. To help undergraduate and graduate students learn the experimental techniques and underlying theoretical principles, a 4-quarter credit hour upper-division technical elective course titled Micro- and Nano- Characterization of Material Surfaces was developed and offered for the first time1 in the Spring quarter of AY 2005-6 (Q20053). The course covered three families of materials characterization techniques: atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy. The course became a part of a concentration program in Nanotechnology and MEMS being developed under a department-level reform grant2 from the National Science Foundation to the department of microelectronic engineering at RIT.

This paper describes the major revisions to the course based on feedback from students and observations of the instructor1 when the course was offered for the second time in the Spring quarter of AY 2006-7 (Q20063). In Q20053, fourteen students majoring in mechanical

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Gupta, S. (2008, June), Experiments In Micro /Nano Chracterization Of Materials Surfaces Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3204