Optoelectronic Device Inspection and Test Station

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Despite the strategic role of semiconductor manufacturing in American industry, teaching of courses related to optoelectronic devices is not popular in undergraduate curricula. These courses often appear either too theoretical and abstract or too skill oriented, with students receiving only vocational training. Most laboratory courses at best reiterate some theoretical concepts, but mostly test rather than fabricate devices. This scenario is particularly troublesome for nontraditional students, including those in community colleges and midcareer or experienced workers intending to update their skills. For both groups, these courses appear theoretical, with little relevance to the manufacturing process. In response to these needs, a course has been developed that has two unique major features: it proposes an integrated approach to the teaching of optoelectronic devices whereby students design, fabricate, and test a device of their choice and it enables nonhomogeneous groups of students consisting of nontraditional, associate degree, undergraduate, and graduate students to work in teams responsible for all aspects of design and fabrication. The scenario played out in this course is a replica of concurrent engineering in the work place. What holds the team together is the product, the device, and what separates them is their responsibilities and backgrounds. All the equipment and supplies necessary for the fabrication of the devices are provided to the students in the microfabrication clean-room facility. Through this project, the department is acquiring equipment for testing the devices that students fabricate. These instruments enable the students to probe and test the electronic and optical response of their products.