Semiconductor Device Fabrication Lab Demonstration during and after COVID-19

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dc.contributor.authorChen L
dc.contributor.authorHayali A
dc.contributor.authorAdams R
dc.contributor.authorWislang K
dc.contributor.authorHou C
dc.contributor.authorAlkaisi M
dc.contributor.authorNock, Volker
dc.contributor.authorAllen M
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-03T21:07:23Z
dc.date.available2025-02-03T21:07:23Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractCONTEXT The Solar Cell Lab is a vital element of the popular ENEL491 Nano Engineering course offered by the Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury. The course and associated lab introduce and demonstrate basic semiconductor device fabrication processes to 400-level students. The lab has attracted students from multiple departments and the number of enrolled students increased from less than 20 in 2012 to nearly 70 in 2024. Students fabricate and characterise solar cells from a plain silicon wafer received at the beginning of the lab session. PURPOSE OR GOAL To minimize virus transmission and, at the same time, maintain the quality of the delivered teaching. To ensure students have the opportunity for sufficient hands-on experience in semiconductor fabrication processes, the measures described were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS The original arrangement of the lab demonstration was designed for fully immersive face-to-face delivery. There were 2 streams with 6 to 8 groups of students (2 or 3 per group) per stream depending on numbers. Students are expected to attend 1 stream for a duration of 3 weeks, learning different fabrication techniques. Each student will submit a report individually at the end of the three weeks of labs. After the pandemic, the maximum number of students for each stream was reduced to 6 students per stream and the number of available streams increased to a maximum of 12 streams. In addition, videos were recorded during wafer preparation and lab sessions, and made available via UC Learn, thus maintaining student engagement during mandatory COVID-19 isolation. ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES There are better interactions between the teaching assistants (TAs) and students after the change in the arrangement. Students are more likely to ask questions during lab sessions when the maximum student number per stream decreases. With the change in lab session arrangements, students were able to work on each process step without time pressure, allowing for a more hands on experience, with students thus receiving more information transfer from TAs and staff. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY Before the pandemic, students were allocated less than 12 minutes per group per step. After changes were implemented, better interactions with students could be observed during lab sessions, and the TA workload could be better balanced for preparation between sessions, thus providing a better work/rest balance. Interestingly, despite challenges experienced during the pandemic, students were still able to achieve similar solar cell performance compared to pre-COVID years.
dc.identifier.citationChen L, Hayali A, Adams R, Wislang K, Hou C, Alkaisi M, Nock V, Allen M (2024). Semiconductor Device Fabrication Lab Demonstration during and after COVID-19. Christchurch. New Zealand: 35th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Annual Conference. 08/12/2024-11/12/2024.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10092/107924
dc.rightsAll rights reserved unless otherwise stated
dc.rights.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10092/17651
dc.subjectsemiconductor fabrication
dc.subjectsolar cells
dc.subjectpractical laboratory work
dc.subject.anzsrc40 - Engineering::4018 - Nanotechnology::401804 - Nanoelectronics
dc.subject.anzsrc40 - Engineering::4018 - Nanotechnology::401805 - Nanofabrication, growth and self assembly
dc.subject.anzsrc40 - Engineering::4009 - Electronics, sensors and digital hardware::400910 - Photovoltaic devices (solar cells)
dc.subject.anzsrc39 - Education::3903 - Education systems::390303 - Higher education
dc.subject.anzsrc39 - Education::3901 - Curriculum and pedagogy::390113 - Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogy
dc.titleSemiconductor Device Fabrication Lab Demonstration during and after COVID-19
dc.typeConference Contributions - Published
uc.collegeFaculty of Engineering
uc.departmentElectrical and Computer Engineering
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