Course Syllabus
MSE 498
Modern methods in materials characterization
https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2024/spring/MSE/498
Instructor: Dr. Mauro Sardela, Materials Research Laboratory, Director of Central Research Facilities
Co-Instructor: Dr. Kathy Walsh, Materials Research Laboratory, Sr. Research Scientist
Guest lecturers: Dr. Kristen Flatt, Dr. Roddel Remy, Dr. Julio Soares, Dr. Jade Wang and Dr. Honghui Zhou.
Course Schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays 9:30 am to 10:50 am (starts on Jan 15, 2024)
Location: room ESB190, Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W. Springfield Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801.
Maximum number of seats: 50
Number of credits: 3
Course Explorer: https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2024/spring/MSE/498
Course Website with schedule: https://go.illinois.edu/MRLclass
A. Description:
This course provides an in-depth and critical review of the most common interdisciplinary materials characterization methods applied to materials in general (including polymeric and biological systems), with focus on modern methods related to the state-of-the-art instrumentation available on campus in the Materials Research Laboratory. We plan to take advantage of the MRL’s decades-long experience in providing training and support to researchers with various levels of experience and expertise in various scientific fields. The classes will provide a direct correlation between the basic physical and chemical principles of each technique, the rThis course provides an in-depth and critical review of the most common interdisciplinary materials characterization methods applied to materials in general (including polymeric and biological systems), with focus on modern methods related to the state-of-the-art instrumentation available on campus in the Materials Research Laboratory. We plan to take advantage of the MRL’s decades-long experience in providing training and support to researchers with various levels of experience and expertise in various scientific fields. The classes will provide a direct correlation between the basic physical and chemical principles of each technique, the required mathematical formalism, and practical experience with instrumentation. We will be using text in the area in addition to recent review papers available in the literature. A direct integration between the various concepts and methods discussed in class will be done with advanced, state-of-the-art instrumentation available in the MRL shared facilities. During the classes, live lab demonstrations of instrumentation operation and data collection will be provided using relevant samples in various areas of Engineering, Physical, Biological, and Chemical Sciences. The instructor and guest lecturers all have decades-long experience with the respective techniques.equired mathematical formalism, and practical experience with instrumentation. We will be using text in the area in addition to recent review papers available in the literature. A direct integration between the various concepts and methods discussed in class will be done with advanced, state-of-the-art instrumentation available in the MRL shared facilities. During the classes, live lab demonstrations of instrumentation operation and data collection will be provided using relevant samples in various areas of Engineering, Physical, Biological, and Chemical Sciences. The instructor and guest lecturers all have decades-long experience with the respective techniques.
B. Organization:
The course will start with the general fundamentals of analytical techniques, comparing the various interactions of materials with probing species such as photons (light, x-rays), electrons and ions, in addition to mechanical and thermal probes. A detailed review of metrology concepts such as accuracy, precision, resolution, detection limits, etc., will be presented in order to facilitate the discussions of specific techniques in later lectures. The course will proceed with lectures on selected mainstream analytical techniques with emphasis on modern methods – many of them just emerging in the literature and not necessarily available in textbooks. A considerable number of review papers on various techniques will be used as reference material. As the classes progresses throughout the various techniques, the physical and chemical basis of the methods will be presented, in addition to the required mathematical formalism. Most of the techniques will include direct lab work using the state-of-the-art MRL shared facilities, with specific data being acquired for the students to analyze as part of the assignments. The course will also provide a practical overview to best practices for analytical experiment design and execution, data analysis, correlation to the literature and reporting.
C. Course Objectives:
The course’s main goal is to offer our students a robust, critical and comparative overview of the main analytical techniques applied to Science and Engineering, with a clear focus on modern methods that can be immediately applied to the students future career work in industry, academy or research centers. The students should be able to independently identify and apply the best technique or set of techniques for specific research problems. It is imperative that the students acquire a clear understanding of the advantages and limitations of each technique. Detailed understanding of possible measurement artifacts intrinsic to each technique is also a priority.
D. Course Topics Outline:
| Topics Covered | Contact Hours |
| Comparative overview of analytical methods. Fundamental aspects of materials interactions with photons, electrons and ion probing species, in addition to the mechanical and thermal probes. General measurement strategies and concepts of resolution, energy, detection limits, accuracy, precision, noise, and data fitting and deconvolution. | 1.3 |
| X-ray scattering, powder x-ray diffraction and structure determination | 1.3 |
| X-ray analysis applied to texture, stress and specific methods for thin films including reciprocal space mapping | 1.3 |
| X-ray reflectometry , X-ray fluorescence, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern x-ray diffractometer at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Thermal analysis methods: thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) | 1.3 |
| Particle size analysis, including dynamical light scattering and comparison with SAXS | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern particle zeta sizer and DSC at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Ellipsometry | 1.3 |
| Raman spectroscopy including tip-enhanced methods | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern confocal Raman spectrometer at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Optical profilometry and general imaging processing methods | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern confocal laser optical profiler at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Mid-term recap; best practices for measurements, data analysis, literature search, paper writing, etc. | 1.4 |
| Atomic force microscopy: topography and basic imaging analysis strategies | 1.3 |
| Atomic force microscopy: advanced measurement methods | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern atomic force microscope at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Electron microscopy: general concepts, instrumentation. Scanning electron microscopy. | 1.3 |
| Advanced analytical methods using scanning electron microscopy: energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electron backscatter diffraction, cathode luminescence, etc. | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern scanning electron microscope at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Transmission electron microscopy: imaging and aberration-corrected high-resolution mode | 1.3 |
| Advanced analytical spectroscopy applied to transmission electron microscopy including EDS, energy electron loss spectroscopy and in-situ thermo and nanomechanical analysis methods | 1.3 |
| Cryo-electron microscopy including overall sample preparation of biological materials | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern cryo-transmission electron microscope at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Live demo and data acquisition using a modern high-resolution aberration-corrected analytical transmission electron microscope at the MRL | 1.3 |
| Ion-based characterization techniques (1) | 1.3 |
| Ion-based characterization techniques (2) | 1.3 |
| Comparison of the various techniques applied to typical applications | 1.4 |
| Course closing and general Q&A | 1.3 |
| Total | 38 |
E. Required text and supplies:
All required literature will be made available through Canvas or university library.
Several review and application papers from recent scientific publications in related fields will also be provided.
Selected chapters from:
- Transmission Electron Microscopy: a textbook for materials science, by David Williams, Springer.
- Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, by Joseph Goldstein, 4th edition, Springer.
- An introduction to sample preparation and imaging by cryo-electron microscopy for structural biology, by Rebecca Thompson et al, Methods 100 (2016), 3-15, doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2016.02.017
- Practical Raman spectroscopy: an introduction, by Peter Vandenabeele, Wiley.
- Spectroscopic ellipsometry: principles and applications, by Fujiwara, Hiroyuki, Wiley.
- Fundamentals of Nanoscale Film Analysis, by T. Alford, L. Feldman and J. Mayer, Springer.
- Introduction to x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, by Fred Stevie and Carrie Donley, J Vac Sci Technol A38 (2020) 063204, https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000412
- Principles and Applications of Thermal Analysis, by Paul Gabbott, Wiley.
- Fundamentals of Powder Diffraction and Structural Characterization of Materials, by Pecharsky and Zavalij, Springer.
- Practical Materials Characterization, ed. M. Sardela, Springer.
- Materials Characterization, by Yang Leng, Wiley.
F. Grading Plan:
40% Final assessment (project)
45% Homework (approximately 8)
15% In-class participation and attendance.
Grading scale:
A+: 100% points
A: 90% to 99%
A-: 80% to 89%
B+: 70% to 79%
B: 60% to 69%
B-: 50% to 59%
C: 40% to 49%
D: 30% to 39%
F: 29% and below
G. Credit:
3 undergraduate hours or 3 graduate hours
H. Meeting Schedule and Contact Hours:
Two 80-minute lectures per week