Teaching Nanoscience

大约40年前，理查德·费曼向理工科学生发出邀请，邀请他们进入一个名为纳米技术的新领域。这个新领域的任务是研究纳米材料，长期目标是建立未来电子和光电设备所需的技术。新领域将使更轻、更强、更快、更智能、更便宜和更清洁的产品成为可能。今天，我们可以看到，理工科不同学科的许多学生都接受了费曼的邀请。大学在纳米技术领域的研究正在呈指数级增长。毫无疑问，无论是成功参与国际竞争的诱人需求，还是该领域在未来几年将做出的令人兴奋的贡献。我们有可能设想新一代材料将导致更轻的运输工具、可以在细胞上操作的外科器械、微小的纳米大小的机器和更快、更小的计算机。尽管这一领域很早就已经普及，但在我们为学生提供的教育经验与这门充满活力的新科学之间的桥梁上，几乎没有做过什么。这是不幸的，因为研究纳米结构是学习块体和表面材料科学中许多新旧概念的一种很好的方式。作为教师，当我们在纳米尺度上控制和观察结构时，当我们看到学生眼中的光芒时，我们会被感动。这个项目帮助搭建了这座“桥梁”，作为教授材料科学的一种新的教育方法。学生们正在参加一项围绕阿肯色大学新的分子束外延扫描隧道显微镜设施而建立的教育体验。其目标是培养准备为纳米结构的进步及其作为下一代电子和光子设备的应用做出贡献的本科生。

Physics (13) Nearly forty years ago Richard Feynman issued an invitation to students of science and engineering to enter a new field called nanotechnology. The mission of this new field was the study of nanometer-sized materials, with the long-term goal of establishing the technology needed for future electronic and optoelectronic devices. The new field would enable lighter, stronger, faster, smarter, cheaper, and cleaner products. Today we can see that many students in the different disciplines of both science andengineering have accepted Feynman's invitation. University research in the field of nanotechnology is on an exponential rise. There is little doubt of either the beckoning need to successfully compete internationally or the exciting contribution this field will make in the years ahead. It is possible for us to envision a new generation of materials that will result in lighter transportation vehicles, surgical instruments that could operate on cells, tiny nanometer-size machines and faster, smaller computers. Despite the early pervasiveness of this field little has been done to "bridge" the educational experience that we offer to our students, to this new dynamic science. This is unfortunate, since the study of nanostructures is a beautiful way to learn many old and new concepts in bulk and surface material science. As teachers, we are moved when we see the gleam in a student's eye while controlling and observing structure on a nanoscale. This project helps to build this "bridge" as a new educational approach to teaching the science of materials. Students are participating in an educational experience built around a new molecular beam epitaxy -scanning tunneling microscope facility at the University of Arkansas. The goal is to educate undergraduates who are prepared to contribute to the advancement of nanostructures and their applications as the next generation of electronic and photonic devices.