Course unit description

Course unit title Practical Materials Science

Lecturer Professor Edmundas Kuoktis
Semester 5
Prerequisites Calculus, General Physics
Credits 5
Students workload Total 135 acad. hours
Lectures 32 acad. hours
Seminars
Tutorials (Problem-solving classes)
Laboratory work 32 acad. hours
self-study 71 acad. hours
Language of instruction Lithuanian
Course annotation The course concentrates on the physical basis of the structure of
matter and the principal and the majority of the physical and
chemical practical techniques used today in studies of well-
characterized materials. The techniques are grouped according
to the underlying physics and the basic principles are described.
Methods based on classical and modern microscopy, on
measurements of secondary radiation or particle energy, on
absorption measurements of radiation and others are analyzed.
Learning outcomes The goal of the course is to form the fundamentals of matter
structure and to introduce the main practical techniques of
materials analysis.
Course unit content Lectures:
Modern physics and structure of matter. Basic characteristics of
atoms and materials. Physical and chemical techniques of
analysis, their classsification.
Microscopy methods. Optical microscopes, their types. X-ray
microscope. Acustic microscopy. Electron microscopy: SEM and
TEM microscopes. Ion microscope. Atomic force microscopy
(AFM). Tunneling microscope.
Methods based on measurements of secondary radiation or
particle energy. Spectral analysis of emission of atoms.
Flamephotometry. Luminescence analysis. X-ray phtotoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS). Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy
(UPS). Mass spectrometry. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy
(SIMS). Auger spectroscopy.
Methods based on absorption measurements of radiation. Atomic
absorption spectral analysis. Molecular absorption spectral
analysis in UV, visible and IR region. Nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Electron paramagnetic
resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Nuclear gamma resonance
(Mssbauer) spectroscopy.
Methods based , on measurements of scattered radiation. X-ray
structural analysis. Low energy electron difraction (LEED).
Reflected high energy electron difraction (RHEED). Scattering
and difraction of neutrons. Scattering of protons. Rutherford
 back scattering (RBS). Trades in development of new methods of
materials analysis.
Laboratory work:
In the labs, students are familiarized with a number of techniques
used in materials science (vacuum techniques, X-Ray, Auger,
SIMS and other methods, wide class of spectroscopy techniques)
with no much specific details. Most of the woks are arranged in
original scientific labs.
Reading list 1. Encyklopedia of Applied Physics, ed. G. L. Trigg, VCH Publ.,
Inc., 1992, vol. 3. or later.
2. Flewitt P. E. J., Physical Methods for Matrerials
Characterization, Institute of Physics Publishing Bristol and
Philadelphia, 1994, 517 p.
3. Mickeviius D., Chemins analizs metodai, (Methods of
Chemical Analysis)Vilnius, 1998, I d., 555 p.
4. A. R. West. Solid State Chemistry and Its Applications. John
Wiley & Sons. 1991. 742 p. 2007, 744 p.
5. Lecture notes in .pdf format.
Additional reading list 1. D.P. Woodruff, T.A. Delchar. Modern Techniques of Surface
Science. Cambridge University Press. 1994. 608 p.
2. , . . .
. , (Enciclopedic Dictionary of Physics)
, 2000, 928 .
Teaching methods The main study methods are lectures, preparation of home
assignments and work at the laboratories. The major areas of
the materials science are analyzed, as well as choice of analysis
techniques, along with their advantages and shortcomings are
presented during the lectures. The attention is concentrated upon
the essence of the physical side of phenomena, as well as
measurement accuracy. The original home assignment problems
are prepared with direct relation to the themes. In the labs,
students are familiarized with a number of techniques for
materials science with no much specific details.
Attendance requirements 70%
Assessment requirements 2 course credit tests. Two home assignments during the
semester, final examination in writing.
Assessment methods Assessment includes the results of the credit tests, home
assignments, laboratory works and final examination test.