Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SF7-P001
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CHARACTERIZING OXIDE THIN FILMS
Rachel Steinhardt 1
1 Cornell University, Material Science and Engineering, United States.
There is a large disconnect between taking classes on science and doing actual
scientific research. Getting young bright students involved in real hands on
scientific research early will show them what a career in the sciences is really
like. At Cornell University there is a program called New Visions
(http://tstboces.org/career-and-technical-education/new-visions/) where high
school seniors gifted and interested in the sciences do their senior year at
Cornell taking classes specifically focused on engineering. The PARADIM center
(Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface
Materials, https://paradim.cornell.edu) and TANMS (center for Translational
Application of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems, http://www.tanms-erc.org) have
teamed up with this program to also give these high school students hands on
experience in ongoing scientific research being conducted at Cornell in an oxide
thin film growth group. The high school students were split into groups of three
with each assigned a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher mentor. The
students characterized single crystal oxide thin films grown using Molecular
Beam Epitaxy by their mentor for various projects like multiferroics, ferroelectric
domain boundary structure, or metal-to-insulator transitions. Each group
focused on one characterization technique either X-ray diffraction, Atomic Force
Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy sample preparation, or
transport measurements. The students took four hours once every week for one
semester to learn about and perform their characterization. There was ongoing
feedback between characterization and new film growth so the students saw
first hand the scientific research process complete with failure, success, and
uncertainty.
Keywords: Education, High School, Characterization
Presenting authors email: rs963@cornell.edu