2009-2010 Bulletin â PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University
2009-2010 Bulletin â PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University
2009-2010 Bulletin â PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University
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OTHER<br />
MSAE E3900: Undergraduate research in<br />
materials science<br />
Alternative courses can be taken as<br />
electives with the approval of the undergraduate<br />
adviser. Of the 24 points of<br />
elective content in the third and fourth<br />
years, at least 12 points of restricted<br />
electives approved by the adviser must<br />
be taken. Of the remaining 12 points of<br />
electives allotted, a sufficient number<br />
must actually be taken so that no fewer<br />
than 64 points of courses are credited<br />
to the third and fourth years. Those<br />
remaining points of electives are intended<br />
primarily as an opportunity to complete<br />
the four-year, 27-point nontechnical<br />
requirement, but any type of course<br />
work can satisfy them.<br />
GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN<br />
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND<br />
ENGINEERING<br />
Master of Science Degree<br />
Candidates for the Master of Science<br />
degree follow a program of study formulated<br />
in consultation with, and approved<br />
by, a faculty adviser. A minimum of 30<br />
points of credit must be taken in graduate<br />
courses within a specific area of study<br />
of primary interest to the candidate. All<br />
degree requirements must be completed<br />
within five years. A candidate is required<br />
to maintain at least a 2.5 grade point<br />
average. Applicants for admission are<br />
required to take the Graduate Record<br />
Examinations. A research report (6 points<br />
of credit, MSAE E6273) is required.<br />
Special reports (3 points of credit) are<br />
acceptable for <strong>Columbia</strong> Video Network<br />
(CVN) students.<br />
Doctoral Program<br />
At the end of the first year of graduate<br />
study, doctoral candidates are required<br />
to take a comprehensive written qualifying<br />
examination, which is designed to<br />
test the ability of the candidate to apply<br />
course work in problem solving and creative<br />
thinking. The standard is first-year<br />
graduate level. There are two four-hour<br />
examinations over a two-day period.<br />
Candidates in the program must take<br />
an oral examination within one year of<br />
taking the qualifying examination. Within<br />
two years of taking the qualifying examination,<br />
candidates must submit a written<br />
proposal and defend it orally before a<br />
Proposal Defense Committee consisting<br />
of three members of the faculty, including<br />
the adviser. Doctoral candidates must<br />
submit a thesis to be defended before a<br />
Dissertation Defense Committee consisting<br />
of five faculty members, including<br />
two professors from outside the doctoral<br />
program. Requirements for the Eng.Sc.D.<br />
(administered by the School of Engineering<br />
and Applied Science) and the<br />
Ph.D. (administered by the Graduate<br />
School of Arts and Sciences) are listed<br />
elsewhere in this bulletin.<br />
Areas of Research<br />
Materials science and engineering is<br />
concerned with synthesis, processing,<br />
structure, and properties of metals,<br />
ceramics, polymers, and other materials,<br />
with emphasis on understanding and<br />
exploiting relationships among structure,<br />
properties, and applications requirements.<br />
Our graduate research programs<br />
encompass projects in areas as diverse<br />
as polycrystalline silicon, electronic<br />
ceramics grain boundaries and interfaces,<br />
microstructure and stresses in<br />
microelectronics thin films, oxide thin<br />
films for novel sensors and fuel cells,<br />
wide-band-gap semiconductors, optical<br />
diagnostics of thin-film processing,<br />
ceramic nanocomposites, electro-deposition<br />
and corrosion processes, magnetic<br />
thin films for giant and colossal magnetoresistance,<br />
chemical synthesis of<br />
nanoscale materials, nanocrystals, carbon<br />
nanotubes, nanostructure analysis<br />
using X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques,<br />
and electronic structure calculation<br />
of materials using density functional<br />
and dynamical mean-field theories.<br />
Application targets for polycrystalline silicon<br />
are thin film transistors for active<br />
matrix displays and silicon-on-insulator<br />
structures for ULSI devices. Wide-bandgap<br />
II–VI semiconductors are investigated<br />
for laser applications. Novel applications<br />
are being developed for oxide thin<br />
films, including uncooled IR focal plane<br />
arrays and integrated fuel cells for<br />
portable equipment. Long-range applications<br />
of high-temperature superconductors<br />
include efficient power transmission<br />
and highly sensitive magnetic field<br />
sensors.<br />
Thin film synthesis and processing in<br />
this program include evaporation, sputtering,<br />
electrodeposition, and plasma<br />
and laser processing. For analyzing<br />
materials structures and properties,<br />
faculty and students employ electron<br />
microscopy, scanning probe microscopy,<br />
cathodoluminescence and electron<br />
beam–induced current imaging, photoluminescence,<br />
dielectric and anelastic<br />
relaxation techniques, ultrasonic methods,<br />
magnetotransport measurements,<br />
and X-ray diffraction techniques. Faculty<br />
members have research collaborations<br />
with Lucent, Exxon, Philips Electronics,<br />
IBM, and other New York area research<br />
and manufacturing centers, as well as<br />
major international research centers.<br />
Scientists and engineers from these<br />
institutions also serve as adjunct faculty<br />
members at <strong>Columbia</strong>. The National<br />
Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven<br />
National Laboratory is used for highresolution<br />
X-ray diffraction and absorption<br />
measurements.<br />
Entering students typically have<br />
undergraduate degrees in materials<br />
science, metallurgy, physics, chemistry,<br />
or other science and engineering disciplines.<br />
First-year graduate courses<br />
provide a common base of knowledge<br />
and technical skills for more advanced<br />
courses and for research. In addition to<br />
course work, students usually begin an<br />
association with a research group, individual<br />
laboratory work, and participation<br />
in graduate seminars during their first year.<br />
GRADUATE SPECIALTY IN<br />
SOLID-STATE SCIENCE AND<br />
ENGINEERING<br />
Solid-state science and engineering is<br />
an interdepartmental graduate specialty<br />
that provides coverage of an important<br />
area of modern technology that no single<br />
department can provide. It encompasses<br />
the study of the full range of properties<br />
of solid materials, with special emphasis<br />
on electrical, magnetic, optical, and<br />
thermal properties. The science of solids<br />
is concerned with understanding these<br />
properties in terms of the atomic and<br />
electronic structure of the materials in<br />
question. Insulators (dielectrics), semiconductors,<br />
ceramics, and metallic<br />
materials are all studied from this viewpoint.<br />
Quantum and statistical mechan-<br />
169<br />
<strong>SEAS</strong> <strong>2009</strong>–<strong>2010</strong>