NEU: Introduction to Nanoelectronics

This Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NUE) award to State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) supports Dr. Vladimir Mitin, Electrical Engineering Department, to develop an innovative course entitled, "NUE: Introduction to Nanoelectronics." The course will be developed in collaboration with Dr. C.R. Wie from UB and Dr. M. Stroscio from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and it will be targeted at undergraduate students on their early stage of education. The successful implementation of major goals and objectives will result in second-year undergraduate students gaining knowledge and understanding of nanoelectronics as an important interdisciplinary subject. Through the examples, exercises, and educational Java applets the course will cover quantum mechanics including the quantum-mechanical origin of the electrical and optical properties of materials and nanostructures, chemically-directed assembly of nanostructures, biomolecules, traditional and nontraditional methods of nanolithography, interactions between electronic and optical properties, as well as the forefront topics such as organic heterostructures, nanotubes, and quantum computing. For the high-school students, an introductory lecture on nanosensors and their role in the exploration of the Universe will be developed and placed on the Web sites of UIC and UB and will be delivered in local high schools. The proposal for this award was received in response to the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) announcement, NSF 03-044, category NUE and was jointly funded by the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).