Advanced Techniques in Materials Characterization

Code:

PDEMM009

Acronym:

TACM

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Science and Technology of Materials

Instance: 2023/2024 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Program in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDEMM	6	Syllabus since 2009/2010	1	-	6	28	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

The objectives of this curricular unit are: to provide concepts on the several materials characterization techniques at the morphological, structural and chemical level, the acquisition of skills in the use and selection of advanced experimental techniques for characterization of materials and application of these techniques to solving problems in materials science and engineering. Several characterization techniques are discussed, from the most conventional to the most recent, so as to enable the knowledge that in the future so that the students can prioritize choices of materials characterization meet the needs and resources available.

Learning outcomes and competences

The materials analysis and characterization is an important area that allows the proper selection of material based on the performance of the system under study and development of new materials. Depending on the requests that the equipment or system shall be subjected, the characterization may include the evaluation of mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical or thermal. For this reason, advanced techniques for materials characterization are exposed, particularly of the most widely used materials as thin films, nanomaterials and advanced materials. The goal of the curricular unit is to provide the basics of each technique including instrumentation, samples preparation and the applicability of these techniques in order to provide the essential groundwork for select and ranking them. The main techniques in the study include characterization methods based on microscopy, microanalysis and diffraction techniques, and surface and spectroscopy analysis

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Introduction to conventional materials characterization: transmission (TEM) and scanning (SEM) electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray microanalysis (EDS / WDS), electron and ion spectroscopy, scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy (STM / AFM)


2. 2 Advanced microscopy techniques: high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), formation and analysis of HRTEM images, simulated HRTEM images and electronic diffraction, and Fourier transform.


3. Advanced diffraction techniques: X-ray diffraction and neutron

1. Advanced spectroscopy techniques: extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), Small-angle/wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS / WAXS) and synchrotron infrared micro-spectroscopy (SIRMS)


2. 5 Advanced techniques for sample preparation: focused ion beam (FIB)


3. Other advanced techniques: techniques used by students in research work

Mandatory literature

Yang Leng; Materials Characterization Introduction to microscopic and spectroscopic methods
. K. Tyagi, Mainak Roy, S. K. Kulshreshtha and S. Banerjee; Advanced Techniques for Materials Characterization
David B. Williams, C. Barry Carter; Transmission electron microscopy. ISBN: 978-0-387-76500-6

Teaching methods and learning activities

Summary documents of the different tecniques will be provide and the students will study and discussed later. The students, organized in groups will analise real applications that present in class.

Students will select an advanced technique for the characterization of materials and realiaze a bibliographic research on the basis concepts and applications. Based on this research need to prepare a monograph that will be presented and discussed at the end of the semester.

There will also be visits to different institutes to seen and to make some characterization with available techniques. The evaluation includes an exam that focuses on the topics of the syllabus. The final grade is calculated based on the ratings of the monograph and exam.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Defesa pública de dissertação, de relatório de projeto ou estágio, ou de tese	50,00
Participação presencial	20,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de relatório/dissertação/tese	74,00
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	28,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Participation in training and seminars or lectures defined.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final Grade = monograph (50%) + discussion of case of study (30%) + training and seminars participation (20%)