A Multi-Faceted Approach to Advancing Materials Science: Investigations in Materials Research and Education

Abstract

This dissertation presents a unique approach for conducting doctoral research in Materials Science and Engineering(MSE). Traditionally, MSE research consists of novel material synthesis, characterization, and analysis. However, advancements in MSE are also driven by improvements in education. As such, this dissertation is split into two sections. The first section presents experiments on the synthesis and characterization of highly mismatched III-V alloys, and the second section discusses the state of teaching innovations in MSE. Bismuth containing III-V alloys are of interest for spintronics and devices operating in the far-infrared due to large spin-orbit splitting and a large bandgap reduction per percent Bi. However, low miscibility of Bi in III-Vs has made identifying growth conditions that support appreciable Bi incorporation challenging and often leads to phase segregation and droplet formation. To address this challenge, a series GaAsBi(001) molecular beam epitaxy growths were performed to understand the relation between material flux, droplet formation, film microstructure, and Bi composition. It was observed that Bi composition reached a peak value 18.3% when Bi-rich droplets formed on the surface. However, these droplets are also associated with inhomogeneous Bi concentration. Droplet-free films minimize these inhomogeneities but exhibit lower Bi concentration up to 13.6%. We also investigated the effect of surface orientation on Bi incorporation in (110) and (001) InAs. Experimental growths, and subsequent characterization showed that InAs(110) supports higher levels of Bi incorporation compared to InAs (001). It is also observed that Bi causes large changes to the surface morphology on each crystalline orientation which is attributed to modified diffusion and adatom attachment mechanisms. Large expenditures on developing student centered teaching methodologies, have not been met with a corresponding shift in the teaching practices of STEM, and more specifically MSE faculty. We conducted a systematic review of educational research conducted by MSE faculty over the past decade to understand why. We find that this research most often discusses the development of pedagogical practices, learning activities, and teaching tools. However, it does not usually discuss the efficacy of these tools with respect to student learning, or report on their implementation in educational settings and adoption by instructors. As such, it is unclear if these instruments are being utilized and suggests a need for a paradigm shift in how education research is conducted by MSE faculty. Furthermore, we find evidence that MSE researchers are unfamiliar with educational literature, which may explain our findings. The findings of this review were used to analyze three studies that we conducted to encourage the use of virtual reality in engineering education. The positives and negatives of the experimental design are discussed; however, we acknowledged that our approach of disseminating virtual reality learning activities is unlikely to encourage uptake of VR by instructors. As such, directions for future research are suggested.