Required in stage
First term
Second term
Both terms
Not organised
This year
Next year
Alternating years
External
Prerequisites
Language of instruction
Duration
Identical coursesMaterials Characterisation Techniques II (B-KUL-H02W8A)
Cannot be taken as part of an examination contract
Seo Maria (coordinator) | De Wolf Ingrid | Seo Maria Aims
This course aims at the advanced understanding of the principle of various microscopy, diffraction, interferometry, indentation and spectroscopy based materials characterization methods, which play nowadays an important role in the characterization of materials. The course addresses the basics of the techniques, the underlying physics, the instrumental aspects, the practical use and the benefits and problems related to their application in materials science and microelectronics.
Combined with demo-sessions illustrating these techniques in action, the student will gain knowledge how these techniques operate and are used for materials characterization. Completion of this course will give the participant a profound knowledge on how these characterization techniques are applied in materials research and development. At the end of the course, it is expected that the student can select the appropriate technique to be applied to a given material to be characterized and that he/she is able to interpret data and to extract valuable information.
Previous knowledge
For this course, the participant requires basic knowledge about various materials characterization techniques, in particular the ones which are presented in the course Materials Characterization Techniques I. These include scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning probe microscopy (SPM), diffraction (XRD) and spectrocopy techniques (EDX, XRF, AES).
However, Materials Characterization Techniques I is not mandatory for this course.
Is included in these courses of study
- Doctoral Programme in Engineering Science (Leuven)
- Master in de nanowetenschappen, nanotechnologie en nano-engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Nanoengineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Engineering Science (Leuven)
- Master in de ingenieurswetenschappen: materiaalkunde (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Materials Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
Activities
2.57 ects. Materials Characterisation Techniques II: Lecture (B-KUL-H02W8a)
Content
Building on Materials Characterization Techniques I, this course will focus on advanced techniques. One part will involve electron microscopy and electron diffraction with the main focus on transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The different imaging modes of the microscopy techniques will be outlined together with analytical capabilities, such as EDS and EELS. Particular attention will be paid to electron diffraction methods which provide detailed information about the structure, morphology and orientation of the specimen.
In the other part, other characterization techniques are discussed, such as optical techniques, interferometry, nanoindentation, and Raman spectroscopy, .
The theoretical aspects of these techniques will be discussed together with their application, advantage and limitations.
Course material
Course documents will be provided via Toledo and recommendation for additional reading will be mentioned in the lectures.
Format: more information
Traditional lecture
0.43 ects. Materials Characterisation Techniques: Exercises and Laboratory Sessions (B-KUL-H02W9a)
Content
One demo-session will be given at a transmission electron microscope, where the different modes of TEM and STEM will be shortly demonstrated together with the spectroscopy (EDX and EELS) techniques. The second practical session will be organized as a demo-session at IMEC, where several techniques such as Nanoindentation and Raman spectrocopy will be presented, particularly, how they are applied in microelectronics research environment.
If, for reasons of force majeure, the faculty decides that a grouped demo-session is not possible, the demo-session will be replaced by videos and additional reading materials. The impact of this decision will be explained on Toledo.
Course material
no study material
Format: more information
Laboratory visit
Evaluation
Evaluation: Materials Characterisation Techniques II (B-KUL-H22W8a)
Explanation
The exam will be organised in two parts, namely for the respective parts of both professors.
The exam is an open book exam, where course documents and books can be used during the written preparation. In the oral exam part, the answers will be discussed with the respective professor of the exam parts. The details will be communicated in the lecture and via Toledo. It is mandatory that students pass both exam parts. No need for calculators or for formularium.
Information about retaking exams
The re-take exam will be organized in the same way as the other exam. It is not possible to transfer a partial exam result to the next examination period as both parts will be examined together.