The Concentration in Chemical and Materials Physics

Peter Taborek

This Summer, UCI welcomed its first class in the new graduate Concentration in Chemical and Materials Physics, known as ChaMP. This is an interdisciplinary program that is taught by faculty in both Physics and Chemistry. Although Physical Chemistry and Condensed Matter Physics are traditionally taught in different departments, this division is historical and does not reflect the growing convergence of the two disciplines. For example, condensed matter physicists increasingly study complex materials such as polymers, foams, or heterostructures while physical chemists use lasers, NMR, scanning microscopies and computer simulations to understand physical properties of materials. Many issues in academic research as well as high-tech industry involve science at the interface between physics and chemistry. Students training for 21st century careers in e.g. microelectronics, biotechnology, advanced materials, aerospace, or medical physics need training that encompasses both fields and are not well served by traditional programs.

The ChaMP program uses several innovative approaches to make interdisciplinary education work. Instead of starting classes in September, ChaMP starts with a Summer "boot camp" designed to put incoming students on an equal footing and to teach practical skills necessary for experimental research. Physicists take a course called "Chemistry for Physicists" while students with an undergraduate background in chemistry take "Physics for Chemists". All students take "Laboratory Skills", which is the first graduate level lab class in the School of Physical Sciences. Over $200,000 of modern instrumentation was used to equip the lab. Students learned computer instrumentation using LabView software on new state-of-the-art workstations and used it to make a data acquisition system, a temperature controller and a spectrum analyzer. They learned shop skills and built parts for an experiment on phase transitions. They spent a week in a clean room learning the basics of microelectronic fabrication. The final projects of the course involved building a laser and a fiber optic gyroscope. These experiences in the lab will provide a context for further formal course work and will enable the students to begin active research much more quickly.

Computers play an increasing role in modern research and technology; this fact is reflected in a required 2 quarter sequence in computation in the ChaMP curriculum. Other features of the ChaMP program include an Industrial Advisory Board which provides internships for students and a special seminar class which discusses applications of fundamental science to emerging technologies. More information, as well as an on-line application form for next year's class, is available at http://www.champ.uci.edu/.

Peter Taborek, ptaborek@uci.edu

Prof. Peter Taborek, ptaborek@uci.edu.