A Multidisciplinary Collaborative Model Project Emphasizing Elements From Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, And Science Majors

The multidisciplinary activities within the MURI (Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Initiative) program conducted at IUPUI campus require departmental and school collaboration from across the campus. A research project model is described here to emphasize research elements from physics, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering that addresses issues related to thermal sciences, physics, solid state devices, CAD, and energy conversion—all combined in one project. The project proposes a new methodology to optimize compound semiconductor thermal and electrical properties optimized for high speed operation and properly interfaced across the composite device layers. The mathematical model incorporating the differential equations with boundary conditions across various interfaces was developed. The paper details the research plan, methodology, and the findings of the project. This model was chosen to build on pre-requisite materials covered in ECE, ME, and Physics curricula such as thermal sciences, semiconductor devices, solid state physics, electromagnetics, CAD, and mathematical simulation tools. The results obtained during one semester have proved the hypothesis of the project leading to optimum performance of metallic semiconductor interface with high speed exciton carrier conversion efficiency within the compound P ge 1.66.2 semiconductor. Some of the variables considered in this model include complex electron tunneling, exciton recombination at tunneling interfaces, and thermal communication in semiconductor devices. The learning objectives within the given research will be reported.