Education

Prof. Berggren’s educational philosophy encourages a highly interactive class section in which practical techniques and intuition are taught, backed up by an expectation of rigorous self-study on the part of the student. He has recently started to develop a few educational videos in the style of Khan Academy related to advanced research subjects, and is interested in expanding the scope of electronic learning, in particular in advanced subjects.

Course Descriptions

Below are descriptions of courses currently taught regularly by Prof. Berggren.

Nanostructure Fabrication 6.781 (course participants only)

Describes techniques to fabricate and analyze submicron and nanometer structures, with applications. Reviews optical and electron microscopy. Surface characterization, preparation, and measurement techniques. Resist technology. Optical projection, interferometric, X-ray, ion, and electron lithography. Aqueous, ion, and plasma etching techniques. Lift-off and electroplating. Applications in electronics, micro photonics, and quantum information. Undergraduates with permission of instructor.

Circuits and Electronics (6.002)

Fundamentals of the lumped circuit abstraction. Resistive elements and networks; independent and dependent sources; switches and MOS devices; digital abstraction; amplifiers; and energy storage elements. Dynamics of first- and second-order networks; design in the time and frequency domains; analog and digital circuits and applications. Design exercises. Alternate week laboratory. Enrollment may be limited. 4 Engineering Design Points.

Curriculum-Development Projects

Prof. Berggren is currently working to develop new curricular elements for the graduate course Nanostructure Fabrication 6.781 (course participants only) based on incorporating laboratory workstyle elements into the course. This effort is based on getting students to experience the laboratory elements first-hand through video shorts, “pre-lab” exercises, and other multimedia elements. A core element is the application of the theoretical and survey knowledge from the course to the concrete problems of debugging processing mistakes and imperfections. By using virtual access to the laboratory, the cumbersome and time-consuming steps of lab access, and safety training, are avoided while much of the intellectually challenging elements are preserved. This effort is funded by MIT’s Alumni funds for teaching: the Class of ’51 fund for Excellence in Education, the Class of ’55 Fund for Excellence in Teaching, the Class of ’72 Fund for Educational Innovation, and the Class of ’99 fund for

Extracurricular Graduate Educational Opportunities

We run a series of journal clubs and seminars to enhance graduate-student educational opportunities within the research community at MIT. Please contact Prof. Berggren directly if you are a member of the MIT community and interested in participating in these events.

NanoStructures Laboratory Group Meetings

At these meetings, graduate students give short seminars (10 minutes each) regarding their research in the Nanostructures Laboratory. Occasionally, faculty or lab staff instead will present a similarly brief introduction to a technical area relevant to the use of the lab. This meeting is open to the MIT community. Contact Mark Mondol if you are interested in attending these meetings.

Templated Self-Assembly Journal Club

Our goal in this group is to survey the active field of templated self-assembly and to permit interactive conversations about the latest results in the field. Each week, we choose a different paper from the literature and jointly read and review this paper. In addition, another group member gives a 30-minute talk about his or her research area. Contact Sam Nicaise if you are interested in participating in these meetings.

Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors Journal Club

Our goal in this group is to provide a forum for discussion of nanowire single-photon detectors. In particular, we review current and important past literature on these topics and comment on their relevance to current and possible future research. If you are interested in participating, please contact Andrew Dane.

Educational Videos

We are releasing a series of YouTube videos explaining fundamental physical aspects important to research in the QNN group. These videos are tailored toward students in engineering and the sciences who are interested in developing a stronger intuitive understanding of physics. Comments are welcome!