A senior-level laboratory in semiconductor materials and device fabrication is being developed to provide hands-on experience with abstract concepts obtained two semiconductor device and one optical electronics courses. The experiments center on (1) semiconductor/metal film deposition,(2) semiconductor processing and characterization, an (3) simple device formation. The laboratory also supports an undergraduate honors course which has an independent student research component culminating in a required article, abstract submission, or senior thesis. The laboratory provides practical experience, including computerized data acquisition, with the fundamental material aspects of semiconductors. Innovative aspects include (1) in-class electro- and "electroless" deposition of most metal chalcogenide films to be utilize and (2) a "team-within-a-team" concept where 2-3 person teams symbiotically coordinate with other teams to complete projects. Major items of equipment include an x-ray diffractometer (phase and grain size determination), a UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer for optical absorption/reflectance spectroscopy (band-gap and free carrier determination), electromagnet and computerized data acquisition system for Hall and van der Pauw measurements, annealing oven (annealing and contact firing), microbalance (thickness determination), diamond wire saw (sample shaping), bell jar evaporation system (contact deposition), monochromator system (photoconductivity, photo-current, and luminescence spectra), and capacitance- voltage meter/curve trace (both for junction/contact characterization).
