¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

This module covers the essential techniques of characterising features of materials in the micro and nanoscale. It introduces the theory and practical applications of the techniques and provides the students with the skills to select the appropriate technique for the investigated properties. An important learning objective is to provide hands-on experience. The characterisation techniques include mechanical (nanoindentation, microhardness, fracture toughness, tensile), surface (AFM, SEM, FIB, white light interferometer), microstructure/subsurface (TEM, XCT), optical (UV-Vis-NIR, ellipsometry), and chemical composition (XRD, FTIR, EDS, EBSD) of the materials.

Aims of this module

The aim of this module is to provide thorough understanding of the advanced characterisation techniques (principal and use) to obtain the desired information on materials at nano and micro scale including its chemical composition, morphology, mechanical properties etc. Also, students will have hands-on experience on operating advanced equipment to build the knowledge which will help them in their current and future research objectives.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Understand basic operational modes and principles of advanced characterisation techniques
2. Select appropriate characterisation techniques to obtain required information on material properties
3. Explain and compare between different techniques for same set of information at given platform, e.g., FTIR and Raman spectroscopy for chemical structure confirmation
4. Demonstrate hands-on skills with specimen preparation, instrument operation, and data analysis in a range of characterisation techniques