9451497 Glaunsinger The first multidisciplinary scanning probe microscopy (SPM) laboratory course for undergraduate students using research-grade instrumentation will be created in this project. The primary goal of this initiative is to create a unique SPM undergraduate laboratory course using affordable, state-of-the-art instrumentation for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This ILI-LLD project is a significant first step in bringing this very important new technique to the undergraduate curriculum by chemists who are doing cutting edge research in the area. The course is designed to serve as a magnet to bring together students from different disciplines and ethnic backgrounds and to help prepare them for the imminent revolution in nano-science engineering and technology. The course will incorporate the following key features: (i) Fundamental Principles to provide students with a working knowledge of STM and AFM, (ii) Core Laboratory Experiments to illustrate important applications of STM and AFM, (iii) Laboratory Projects to give students the opportunity to perform short-term research investigations of their choice, and (iv) Cooperative Learning Activities to allow students to learn from each other. The primary products of this project will be a model multidisciplinary laboratory as well as a laboratory manual documenting all of the tested and refined experiments. The laboratory experiments will also be available as separate units to maximize the impact on existing laboratory courses in the undergraduate science and engineering curriculum. This project will involve expert faculty from the Departments of Chemistry/Biochemistry, Physics/Astronomy, Geology, Biology Chemical/Bio/Materials Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The course will complement many of the existing undergraduate courses and laboratories in the above disciplines, provide highly qualified students for undergra duate research projects, and strengthen special programs such as the federally-sponsored Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Program in Materials Synthesis and Processing and the Coalition to Increase Minority Degrees. The multidisciplinary SPM laboratory course will have a positive impact on the quality of science and engineering education at the university, local, regional and national levels.
