Pro studenty

Project 2 (KFY/PRJ2), Project 3 (KFY/PRJ3), Project 4 (KFY/PRJ4)

Conditions and Requirements:

The student must contact the course supervisor no later than the first week of the given semester. (PRJ2 ‒ doc. Ing. P. Baroch, Ph.D., PRJ3 ‒ prof. Ing. P. Zeman, Ph.D., PRJ4 ‒ prof. Ing. J. Houška, Ph.D.)
Upon agreement with the course supervisor, a suitable project topic will be selected for the student.
To obtain course credit, the student will prepare a report on the project, which after approval by the project supervisor will be presented at the end of the semester.
Each topic can be addressed only once within the Project 2‒4 courses.
Course credit is awarded by the course supervisor.
Some topics may be conducted in English.

Topics within the Project 2‒4:

1. Surface Topography Study of Thin Films Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Learn the principles of the method of atomic force microscopy (AFM) (theory). Prepare samples for measurement using the SmartSPM device. Measure the topology of various surfaces in contact and non-contact modes.

2. Measurement of Thin Film Conductivity Using a Hall Probe

Learn the principles of measurement using a Hall probe and the calculation of resistivity, mobility, and charge carrier concentration from measured data. Prepare samples, measure the electrical properties of selected samples, or their temperature dependence, evaluate the results with respect to theory, and present the findings.

3. Measurement of Tribological Properties

Learn the principles of the principle of measuring tribological properties, i.e., sample preparation for measurement, equipment operation, and test evaluation. Measure the dependence of tribological properties on various parameters.

4. Imaging via Scanning Electron Microscopy (ASSIGNED)

Learn the principles of the electron microscope. Investigate the influence of individual parameters (type of detected electrons, accelerating voltage, working distance, etc.) on the resulting image. Investigate the structure of thin-film materials and select the most suitable parameters for the chosen type of image.

5. Elemental Composition Analysis Using Energy-Dispersive and Wavelength-Dispersive Spectroscopy (ASSIGNED)

Learn the principles of the operating principles of wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Master basic operation of the scanning electron microscope. Prepare provided thin-film materials for analysis using EDS and WDS. Record spectra of element standards and measured thin films. Evaluate and process data.

6. Study of the Effect of Temperature and Heating Time on Oxidation Processes of Thin Films (ASSIGNED)

Learn the principles of the operation of a furnace for long-term annealing and the sample preparation process. Carry out heating in air to various temperatures for different heating durations. Evaluate the effect of these parameters on the thickness and morphology of the resulting surface oxide layer.

7. Study of Hydrophilic / Hydrophobic Surfaces (ASSIGNED)

Learn the principles of the theory of surface wettability. Measure the surface wettability of various materials using a system enabling comprehensive and fast static contact angle measurement.

8. Characterization of Charge Transfer and Semiconductor Properties of Thin-Film Materials at the Interface with Electrolyte

To master the method of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and perform measurements on selected thin-film samples. To fit the acquired complex spectra displayed in Nyquist and Bode plots using suitable equivalent circuits, and subsequently determine the electrical and semiconductor properties of the material, as well as the rate of electrochemical processes on its surface. Furthermore, to determine the semiconductor parameters of the layers, such as the conductivity type, charge carrier density, and flat-band potential, using Mott-Schottky analysis.

9. Measurement of Sensoric Properties of Thin-Film Materials for Hydrogen Detection

Learn the principles of the principles of preparing nanoparticle-based thin-film materials. Learn the principles of measuring electrical resistivity using a special four-point probe method. Measure the sensoric properties of a selected material. Evaluate the obtained data.

10. Advanced Imaging via Scanning Electron Microscopy

Learn the principles of additional imaging modes in the scanning electron microscope (BSE, TE). Learn the principles of sample preparation for SEM observation (coating, mechanical polishing, ion polishing). Learn advanced methods of image processing for scanning electron microscopes (filtering, binarization). Perform observation of coated samples and imaging of nanoparticles. Process the acquired images. A prerequisite for choosing this topic is prior completion of topic No. 4 or 5.

11. Optical Emission Spectroscopy

Learn the principles of the theoretical foundations of optical emission spectroscopy (OES), the operation of spectrographs, monochromators, and detectors used in OES. Investigate emission from selected light sources using OES and evaluate the acquired data.

12. Study of Optical Properties Using Ellipsometry

Learn the principles of the operation of the VASE ellipsometer. Learn the principles of the optical model describing the selected material. Determine the properties (thickness, refractive index 'n', extinction coefficient 'k') of the specified material. More precise specifications (e.g., studying property dependence on the applied dispersion relation n(λ), k(λ) or studying their lateral profile) will be provided upon project assignment.

13. Surface Characterization of Materials Using Optical Microscopy (ASSIGNED)

Learn the principles of the operation of an optical microscope. Create images of various surfaces using advanced image processing methods, and process the surface topology for selected samples.

14. Measurement of Optical Properties of Thin Films Using a Spectrophotometer

Learn the principles of the principles of spectrophotometry. Learn the principles of the operation of a spectrophotometer, measure optical properties (e.g., transmittance, reflectance) of provided materials, and evaluate the data. Extract specified quantities from the data, such as optical bandgap or absorption coefficient behavior.

15. Simulation of Magnetron Magnetic Field Distribution and Electron Motion Analysis within the Field

Learn the principles of magnetron principles for magnetron sputtering. Get acquainted with the FEMM computational software for magnetic field simulation. Get acquainted with software developed at KFY for calculating electron trajectories in magnetic fields. Perform simulations for several magnet configurations in the magnetron. Evaluate the obtained data.