The Purdue Schools of Chemical, Electrical, and Materials Engineering, which have been sharing undergraduate courses as well as research on electronic materials and processing for several years will participate in a REU site in microelectronic materials and processing. The focus of the REU site is the synthesis, processing, properties, structure, and performance of microelectronic materials, and the interrelationships among these aspects. Specific projects include anisotropic etching of microelectronic thin films, selective epitaxial growth and three- dimensional integration, processing on patterned substrates of electronic materials, fundamentals of metal contacts to semiconductors, and 'a priori' predictions of physical and chemical properties of microelectronic materials as functions of their synthesis and processing. The goals of the REU will be to introduce students to independent research on these materials and device fabrication, to develop and enhance the students' creativity and originality, to develop outstanding candidates for graduate programs, to demonstrate the excitement and rewards from successful research, and to prepare B.S. graduates who will excel in industrial research and development environments.
