Materials Lab II

Catalog description

This is the second of three 0.5CU required laboratory courses in the undergraduate MSE program. This course will build on the experimental and professional skills introduced in MSE 2010 and will reinforce concurrent lecture courses in materials thermodynamics and opto-electronics of materials. Hands-on experimental skills to be developed include phase transformations in metals and characterization using electron microscopy image analysis, thin-film fabrication methods and measurement techniques, nano-materials synthesis (including quantum dot technologies) and characterization of size and optical properties, and characterization of next-generation photovoltaic materials. Students will expand on their MATLAB skills for image analysis, I-V curve plotting, and presentation of high-quality figures for technical reports and presentations. Students will also be exposed to material life-cycle analysis, device sensitivity, and sustainability and how they each apply to materials design.