This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, aims to understand the growth and nucleation of thin films prepared by laser induced vaporization by back illumination. Professor Spain and her undergraduate students at Occidental College will prepare thin films of transition metal and transition metal chalcogenides on silicon and ordered organic films anchored to a substrate. These systems should yield unique and potentially useful microstructures at the interface between these inorganic and organic phases. Students in this CAREER research project will also use atomic force microscopy to characterize these systems. Another aspect of the educational thrust of this project will be the radical reorganization of a combined inorganic-physical chemistry laboratory course that emphasizes the uses of lasers in science. The fabrication of reliable semiconductor materials of every decreasing dimension requires improved understanding and control of the synthesis of thin films on substrates. This CAREER research project focusses on the synthesis and characterization of thin films grown on silica and organic substrates. These films will be grown using laser vaporization techniques and characterized by atomic force microscopy. Professor Spain's undergraduate students will gain direct experience in each of the aspects of this research as well as be exposed to new instructional materials in lecture and laboratory formats that emphasize the use of lasers. High school students will also be afforded opportunities to work in this new laser laboratory facility. Advising and mentoring of all of these students regarding opportunities in science are important parts of the educational thrusts of this CAREER proposal.
