Over the last few days Marvin and I have been working to pull everything together so we can run the first round of our sensor testing on Wednesday. It is amazing the number of people we need to coordinate with in order to move forward with our experiment. When we left on Tuesday evening, we had actually started the experiment.
Speaking with other teacher teams, we appear to be ahead of the rest. Many of the teams have run into different issues that have delayed them from performing their proposed experiments. If things go well on Wednesday, we might be able to do a second round of testing next week.
It is amazing how fast the program is going! Last week was the half way point. On Monday Mike spoke to us about the presentation and poster that are due during the final week. This means we really need to complete any testing before the end of next week so the data can be incorporated into these items.
After Mike's presentation, Jared and I sat with him to discuss how we can incorporate the topic of fiber optic communications into our lesson plans. Jared and I are both middle school teachers and would like to incorporate this type of technology into our communications strand.
Our lesson plan deliverable is due at the end of this week. I have written mine around the different components in a communications system, the parts of a typical universal system model, and the differences between copper-based vs. fiber optic-based system.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
We need to have a "Plan B"
As we heard during Dr. Bifano's presentation, Marvin and I need to come up with a "Plan B" for our proposed experiment. We had been marching right along in anticipation of being able to start our testing the end of this week or early next week. Our chips had been prepared, the solution that is sprayed onto the surface was all set, the room seemed to be ready, we had been trained on the use of the surface enhanced Raman microscope, etc., but then we read the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the chemical we were planning on using and everything had to change.
Our original idea was to step outside the lab and test our proposed sensor in a more "real-world" environment. Marvin and I had thought of a way to test the effectiveness of the sensor as it is moved farther away from the explosive material. This information would be helpful in knowing how close we would need to position our robot before running the test. The MSDS stated that the chemical material we were using was more dangerous than I had originally thought. Yes, I know it is an explosive material, but just the handling of the material and the vapors/dust it gives off are both very hazardous. Therefore, we needed to drop back and think of a "Plan B" for our testing program.
It now appears that all of our testing will have to be conducted inside a fume hood. We are trying to think of ways to modify the space within the hood to simulate non-lab conditions. We have sent some thoughts out to several people to get their initial impressions about our revised plan. Once we get comments back, Marvin and I can revise our original testing plan and submit it for approval.
In the meantime, Bo has been able to show us how to use the surfaced enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We will use this machine after we expose our chips to the explosive material. This was another piece of very sophisticated equipment that is available within the Photonics Building.
I am amazed at how helpful the grad students have been in showing us how to use all the different pieces of equipment. Also, how willing they have been to take time out of their own research to assist us with our project. I feel that we will be able to actually get something done within the limited time frame we have in the Photonics Center.
Our original idea was to step outside the lab and test our proposed sensor in a more "real-world" environment. Marvin and I had thought of a way to test the effectiveness of the sensor as it is moved farther away from the explosive material. This information would be helpful in knowing how close we would need to position our robot before running the test. The MSDS stated that the chemical material we were using was more dangerous than I had originally thought. Yes, I know it is an explosive material, but just the handling of the material and the vapors/dust it gives off are both very hazardous. Therefore, we needed to drop back and think of a "Plan B" for our testing program.
It now appears that all of our testing will have to be conducted inside a fume hood. We are trying to think of ways to modify the space within the hood to simulate non-lab conditions. We have sent some thoughts out to several people to get their initial impressions about our revised plan. Once we get comments back, Marvin and I can revise our original testing plan and submit it for approval.
In the meantime, Bo has been able to show us how to use the surfaced enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We will use this machine after we expose our chips to the explosive material. This was another piece of very sophisticated equipment that is available within the Photonics Building.
I am amazed at how helpful the grad students have been in showing us how to use all the different pieces of equipment. Also, how willing they have been to take time out of their own research to assist us with our project. I feel that we will be able to actually get something done within the limited time frame we have in the Photonics Center.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Start of the third week
I spent most of Monday in the clean room. In the morning I was part of the group being shown how to do an evaporation onto the wafers we made last week. During the evaporation process, a very thin layer (about 10 nanometers) of chromium was deposited onto the surface of my wafer. The machine that performs the evaporation procedure first creates a very low pressure (3 x 10-6 Torrs) in the container where the wafers are stored. Once the proper pressure is obtained, then an electrode heats up the metal until it vaporizes. The vapors are then allowed to deposit onto the surface of the wafer at a controlled rate.
Once the deposition of the metal was completed, we completed the lift off procedures by first placing the wafer in a bath of acetone. The acetone removed all the chrome that was not in the area of the photoresist. The wafer is then rinsed in methanol and finally cleaned with DI water and dried with nitrogen. We will continue to work with our wafers next week.
During the afternoon Marvin and I worked with Yan to make the second and final evaporation of gold onto our sensor chips. The difference for this procedure was that the chips were mounted into the evaporator at an angle so that gold nanorods would be created. We applied approximately 500 nm of gold on the surface of our chips. Tomorrow we are scheduled to inspect the chips using a scanning electron microscope.
During lunch we had Dr. Bifano speak to us about adaptive optics and his experience with start-up businesses. He was a great speaker and provided good graphics to explain the complicated concepts he discussed. Since starting the RET I have notice how important the concept of entrepreneurship is stressed to the students at BU. The goal is to take what it developed in the labs and bring it to industry.
Once the deposition of the metal was completed, we completed the lift off procedures by first placing the wafer in a bath of acetone. The acetone removed all the chrome that was not in the area of the photoresist. The wafer is then rinsed in methanol and finally cleaned with DI water and dried with nitrogen. We will continue to work with our wafers next week.
During the afternoon Marvin and I worked with Yan to make the second and final evaporation of gold onto our sensor chips. The difference for this procedure was that the chips were mounted into the evaporator at an angle so that gold nanorods would be created. We applied approximately 500 nm of gold on the surface of our chips. Tomorrow we are scheduled to inspect the chips using a scanning electron microscope.
During lunch we had Dr. Bifano speak to us about adaptive optics and his experience with start-up businesses. He was a great speaker and provided good graphics to explain the complicated concepts he discussed. Since starting the RET I have notice how important the concept of entrepreneurship is stressed to the students at BU. The goal is to take what it developed in the labs and bring it to industry.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Second Week Progress
I have made a lot of progress during our second week. I have learned a great deal about basic research and the complexities of working in a laboratory environment. Let me talk about the specific project I am working on.
The basic idea for the project is to be able to develop a sensor that can "sniff" the air for vapors given off by explosive materials like TNT. The sensor needs to be very accurate and be able to detect very small amounts of the explosive material. The long-term goal of the sensor is that it would be able to replace a bomb-sniffing dog.
The focus of the summer research for teachers is two-fold. First, we are to design and program a robot that would be able to carry the sensor into a hazardous area, expose the sensor, and then return it for analysis. We are to use the Lego Mindstorm NXT kit to build the robot. The programming of the robot is meant to be completed using LabView software The second portion of the project is to continue with the basic testing of the sensor to understand its capabilities in different situations.
Marvin and I have been building our robot "car" to be radio controlled so we could drive it to/from the site of the possible explosive materials while carrying the chip. We are modifying our car so that it will keep the sensor covered until it is at the site we want to test for explosive materials. This week we also have been working to develop the software programming required to not only maneuver the car, but also activate the lifting device for the sensor's cover. We are programming our robot in both NXT 2.0 as well as LabView 2009.
The basic technology of the sensor and its analysis after being exposed to explosive materials has been previously established through laboratory-based experiments conducted by Dr. Reinhard's group. We have proposed to test the sensor is a more "real world" application. We want to determine the effectiveness of the sensor in being able to detect the presence of the explosive vapor at specific distances from the explosive source.
This week we have started to fabricate the chips necessary to act as the required sensors. Based on the earlier testing, we plan to keep the concentration of the explosive material constant (15 ppb) and use the optimum exposure time of five minutes. The two variables we plan to test would be the distance the sensor is from the explosive material and the ability to test the sensor outside the typically controlled laboratory environment. We have developed a draft testing plan and have sent it to the grad students that have been helping us for their review and comment.
Next week we will complete the fabrication of our chips so we can start to perform our initial testing. Based on the results of this testing, we will either move forward with the rest of our testing plan or revised the plan.
The basic idea for the project is to be able to develop a sensor that can "sniff" the air for vapors given off by explosive materials like TNT. The sensor needs to be very accurate and be able to detect very small amounts of the explosive material. The long-term goal of the sensor is that it would be able to replace a bomb-sniffing dog.
The focus of the summer research for teachers is two-fold. First, we are to design and program a robot that would be able to carry the sensor into a hazardous area, expose the sensor, and then return it for analysis. We are to use the Lego Mindstorm NXT kit to build the robot. The programming of the robot is meant to be completed using LabView software The second portion of the project is to continue with the basic testing of the sensor to understand its capabilities in different situations.
Marvin and I have been building our robot "car" to be radio controlled so we could drive it to/from the site of the possible explosive materials while carrying the chip. We are modifying our car so that it will keep the sensor covered until it is at the site we want to test for explosive materials. This week we also have been working to develop the software programming required to not only maneuver the car, but also activate the lifting device for the sensor's cover. We are programming our robot in both NXT 2.0 as well as LabView 2009.
The basic technology of the sensor and its analysis after being exposed to explosive materials has been previously established through laboratory-based experiments conducted by Dr. Reinhard's group. We have proposed to test the sensor is a more "real world" application. We want to determine the effectiveness of the sensor in being able to detect the presence of the explosive vapor at specific distances from the explosive source.
This week we have started to fabricate the chips necessary to act as the required sensors. Based on the earlier testing, we plan to keep the concentration of the explosive material constant (15 ppb) and use the optimum exposure time of five minutes. The two variables we plan to test would be the distance the sensor is from the explosive material and the ability to test the sensor outside the typically controlled laboratory environment. We have developed a draft testing plan and have sent it to the grad students that have been helping us for their review and comment.
Next week we will complete the fabrication of our chips so we can start to perform our initial testing. Based on the results of this testing, we will either move forward with the rest of our testing plan or revised the plan.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Real Progress
Tuesday was a great day because of all the progress Marvin and I were able to make! First - and most importantly - the IT Department finally came to our lab and not only loaded LabView onto our computer, but they also gave us administrative rights to load other required software. A BIG thanks to Helen for all her efforts to make that happen. I have loaded the Lego NXT software as well as one other program onto the computer so we now can get down to the business of programming the Lego robot.
Marvin and I also had a great meeting with Dr. Reinhard. Not only did we discuss the parameters of the robot he wants us to include in our design, but we were also able to talk about the basic scientific aspects of his research along with his teaching methods for grad students. We found several similarities between what Marvin and and I experience at the middle/high school grades and what Dr. Reinhard expressed for issues with his graduate students.
Marvin and I also were able to speak with Helen about how her efforts in the renovation of an existing lab based on the professor's input. Depending on the level of the renovations, they can take anywhere from a month to over six months. In fact, Helen is going to be renovating the lab Marvin and I are working in with our robot. Yesterday some staff came in to start moving out the unneeded equipment.
Marvin and I also met with Bo and Yan to discuss upcoming lab work and we were able to schedule some times over the next couple of days to continue our observations of different lab procedures.
For the afternoon I was able to work on designing revisions to our existing robot car to build a platform that will hold a petri dish and cover. The idea is to mount the sensor chip in the dish surrounded by fluid (NaOH) with the lid on. We would drive the robot to the suspected explosive material and then raise the lid exposing the sensor for a period of time. Then the lid would be replaced and we would drive the robot back and take out the chip for analysis. The goal of placing the chip in the petri dish with fluid is to reduce the chances that the fluid would evaporate on the surface of the chip before it is exposed to the explosive material and thereby making the chip ineffective. We still need to investigate exactly how we will be able to open/close the lid of the petri dish.
Marvin and I also had a great meeting with Dr. Reinhard. Not only did we discuss the parameters of the robot he wants us to include in our design, but we were also able to talk about the basic scientific aspects of his research along with his teaching methods for grad students. We found several similarities between what Marvin and and I experience at the middle/high school grades and what Dr. Reinhard expressed for issues with his graduate students.
Marvin and I also were able to speak with Helen about how her efforts in the renovation of an existing lab based on the professor's input. Depending on the level of the renovations, they can take anywhere from a month to over six months. In fact, Helen is going to be renovating the lab Marvin and I are working in with our robot. Yesterday some staff came in to start moving out the unneeded equipment.
Marvin and I also met with Bo and Yan to discuss upcoming lab work and we were able to schedule some times over the next couple of days to continue our observations of different lab procedures.
For the afternoon I was able to work on designing revisions to our existing robot car to build a platform that will hold a petri dish and cover. The idea is to mount the sensor chip in the dish surrounded by fluid (NaOH) with the lid on. We would drive the robot to the suspected explosive material and then raise the lid exposing the sensor for a period of time. Then the lid would be replaced and we would drive the robot back and take out the chip for analysis. The goal of placing the chip in the petri dish with fluid is to reduce the chances that the fluid would evaporate on the surface of the chip before it is exposed to the explosive material and thereby making the chip ineffective. We still need to investigate exactly how we will be able to open/close the lid of the petri dish.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
First Day in the Clean Room
On Monday five of the RET went into the fabrication room to start making our chips. After suiting up in our basic "bunny suits" we had to put on the extra clothes because we were going to be working in the extra clean room. Helen and Paul helped us throughout the process. Some of the teachers had already done some of the processes last week through their lab.
The goal of the activity was for each teacher to apply photoresist on two wafers and then spin them, soft bake the wafers, then expose the wafers based on the mask that was developed during last year's RET, develop the wafers, clean them, check the results under a microscope, and then hard bake the wafers.
For the most part the process went smoothly. It was alittle difficult working with two pairs of rubber gloves on. Helen suggested wearing the second pair in case you get photoresist on the outside pair, you can take them off and not expose your hands to any of the chemicals, I was lucky that I followed her advice because while I was cleaning the spinning machine after everyone had spun their wafers, I ripped one of my gloves. I was able to take it off and replace it without exposing my skin to any of the chemicals.
It appeared that there was some underlying problem with the exposure and developing of everyone's wafers. When we inspected the work under the microscope, there was extra "stuff" on the surface so we didn't have a clean exposure. Helen and Paul were a little confused why this occurred and Paul actually prepared his own wafer to see if he could determine the cause of the problem.
In the end all the teachers finished their two wafers and carefully placed in the storage tray. Next week we will continue to use the wafers in our development of our own chips.
The goal of the activity was for each teacher to apply photoresist on two wafers and then spin them, soft bake the wafers, then expose the wafers based on the mask that was developed during last year's RET, develop the wafers, clean them, check the results under a microscope, and then hard bake the wafers.
For the most part the process went smoothly. It was alittle difficult working with two pairs of rubber gloves on. Helen suggested wearing the second pair in case you get photoresist on the outside pair, you can take them off and not expose your hands to any of the chemicals, I was lucky that I followed her advice because while I was cleaning the spinning machine after everyone had spun their wafers, I ripped one of my gloves. I was able to take it off and replace it without exposing my skin to any of the chemicals.
It appeared that there was some underlying problem with the exposure and developing of everyone's wafers. When we inspected the work under the microscope, there was extra "stuff" on the surface so we didn't have a clean exposure. Helen and Paul were a little confused why this occurred and Paul actually prepared his own wafer to see if he could determine the cause of the problem.
In the end all the teachers finished their two wafers and carefully placed in the storage tray. Next week we will continue to use the wafers in our development of our own chips.
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