Materials Science and Engineering

One or more advanced topics in solid-state electronics. Content may vary from year to year. Recent topics have included electronic properties of doped semiconductors, physics and technology of nanastructures, and organic materials for optical and electronic device application.

Photovoltaic materials and devices are discussed. Topics covered: solar flux distribution & spectra, photovoltaic parameters, loss mechanisms, Shockley-Queisser detailed balance approach, stability, light management, module design & various solar cell technologies, drawing distinctions between heterojunction & homojunction devices including crystalline Si and III-V, & thin film cells such as CIGS, CdTe, dye sensitized, & organic. In-depth treatment of organic solar cells including lab to fabricate & analyze an organic solar cell. We present methods to go beyond classical limits, such as intermediate band solar cells & multijunction devices.

An introduction to principles of lasers. Topics include a review of propagation theory, interaction of light and matter, Fourier optics, a survey and description of operational characteristics of lasers, light scattering, and nonlinear optics. Some introductory quantum mechanics will be covered to give students an appreciation of the basic tools for the interaction of light with matter and nonlinear optical phenomena.

A one-term course in advanced quantum mechanics, following Physics 505. After a brief review of some fundamental topics (e.g., hydrogen atom, perturbation theory, scattering theory) more advanced topics will be covered, including many-body theory, operator theory, coherent states, stability of matter and other Coulomb systems and the theory of the Bose gas.

Fermi liquids, Luttinger liquids, the quantum Hall effect, superconductivity, quantum magnetism, Kondo effect and localization.

Topics include an introduction to radiation generation at synchrotron and neutron facilities, elastic scattering techniques, inelastic scattering techniques, imaging and spectroscopy. Specific techniques include X-ray and neutron diffraction, small-angle scattering, inelastic neutron scattering, reflectometry, tomography, microscopy, fluorescence and infrared imaging, and photoemission spectroscopy. Emphasis is placed on application of the techniques for uncovering the material structure-property relationship, including energy storage devices, sustainable concrete, CO2 storage, magnetic materials, mesostructured materials and nanoparticles.

Advanced topics in inorganic chemistry, including solid-state and bioinorganic chemistry, band theory, and reaction mechanisms.