The knowledge transmitted by the course to students involves: - Physical and chemical properties of functional materials involved in micro and nanotechnologies. - Characterization methods devoted to materials, micro/nanostructures and technological processes

- Basic physics (mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, wave optics, elements of condensed matter physics) - Elements of chemistry. - Quantum mechanics. - Elements of statistical mechanics and quantum statistics for fermions and bosons. - Elements of electronics and electrotechnics.

- Fundamentals of materials bonding and structure; - Materials properties inferred from chemical bonding; crystal defects; - Mechanical properties; - Thermal properties; - Electrical and dielectric properties; - Optical properties; - Thermo-/Ferro-/Pyro-electrical properties, Piezoelectricity, Piezoresistivity; - Advanced Materials and applications: Polymers; Nanostructured materials; Shape-memory materials; Functional materials and bioapplications. Characterizations (5,5 credits) - Introduction to Materials Characterization: Composition, Structure and Morphology through fundamental interactions (photons-matter, electrons-matter, ions/particles-matter) - Optical microscopy (conventional [wide field], confocal/laser scanning) - Electron microscopies (SEM and TEM with Electron Probe Microanalysis) and e-beam lithography - Ionic microscopy (Focus Ion Beam) and related lithography - Optical Spectroscopy: Photodetectors/Optical Spectrometers, Reflectance/Transmittance spectroscopy, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy - Auger spectroscopy - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy - Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry - Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry and Electron Recoil Detection Analysis - X-ray and electron diffraction - Surface Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure - Roughness analysis at the nanoscale Experimental Labs (1,5 credits) - Experimental demonstrations of synthesis and materials characterizations theoretically discussed during the lessons: i) optical spectroscopies (Raman and Photoluminescence), ii) X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, iii) synthesis of metal nanoparticles and bioassay.

The course concerns theoretical lectures with the discussion of several application case studies and experimental demonstrations performed in research laboratories. The theoretical lectures will be performed in class or online or blended, depending on sanitary emergency conditions. The exp. demonstrations will be performed in laboratory or will be filmed, depending on sanitary emergency conditions.

Selected chapters from the following texts: - Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction, by William D. Callister, Ed. Wiley - Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering, by William F. Smith and Javad Hashem, Ed. McGraw-Hill - Solid State Chemistry and its Applications, by Anthony R. West, Ed. Wiley - Structural and chemical analysis of materials, by J. P. Eberhart, Ed. Wiley - Surfaces and interfaces of solid materials, by H. Luth, Ed. Springer - A guide to scanning microscope observation, by JEOL Inc. - Optical processes in semiconductors, by J. I. Pankove, Ed. Dover Publ. Inc. - Optical diagnostics for thin film processing, by I. P. Herman, Ed. Academic Press - Fundamentals of photonics, by B.E.A. Saleh and M. C. Teich, Ed. Wiley Learning material provided by teachers

Exam: Written test;

The exam concerns a written test dealing with open questions (n.5) on the developed theory and the experiments performed within the laboratory demonstrations, with a scheduled time of 2 hours. Laptop, smartphones, books, pocket calculator, slides, notes are not allowed. Each question will be corrected and a mark will be assigned by the teacher. The final mark is the average of the marks concerning the 5 questions. Maximum grade: 30L / 30.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.