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This course provides the graduate-level introduction to understand, analyze, characterize and design the operation of semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes, solar cells, light-emitting devices, and more.
The material will primarily appeal to electrical engineering students whose interests are in applications of semiconductor devices in circuits and systems. The treatment is physics-based, provides derivations of the mathematical descriptions, and enables students to quantitatively analyze device internal processes, analyze device performance, and begin the design of devices given specific performance criteria.
Technology users will gain an understanding of the semiconductor physics that is the basis for devices. Semiconductor technology developers may find it a useful starting point for diving deeper into condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and materials science. The course presents an electrical engineering perspective on semiconductors, but those in other fields may find it a useful introduction to the approach that has guided the development of semiconductor technology for the past 50+ years.
Students taking this course will be required to complete:
- two (2) projects
- one (1) proctored exam using the edX online Proctortrack software.
- nine (9) homework assignments.
- thirty-one (31) online quizzes are spread throughout the 16-week semester.
Completed homework and exam will be scanned and submitted using Gradescope for grading.
This course is one of a growing suite of graduate-level courses being developed in an edX/Purdue University collaboration. Courses like this can apply toward a Purdue University MSECE degree for students accepted into the full master’s program.
Overview
Syllabus
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Week 1:
- Solid State Devices Introduction
- Semiconductor Materials
- Applications of Elemental and Compound Semiconductors
- Atomic Positions and Bond Orientation
- Crystals
- Bravais Lattice
- Surfaces, Miller Index
Week 2:
- Elements of Quantum Mechanics
- Classic Systems
- Why D We Need Quantum Mechanics?
- Formulation of Schrodinger's Equation
- Analytical Solutions to Free and Bound Electrons
- Electrons in a Finite Potential Well
Week 3:
- Electron Tunneling – Emergence of Bandstructure
- Transfer Matrix Method
- Tunneling through Barriers
- Bandstructure – in 1D Periodic Potentials
Week 4:
- Brillouin Zone and Reciprocal Lattice
- Constant Energy Surfaces & Density of States
- Bandstructure in Real Materials (Si, Ge, GaAs)
- E(k) Diagrams in Specific Crystal Directions
- Constant Energy Surfaces
- Density of State Effective Mass
Week 5:
- Bandstructure Measurements
- Occupation of States
- Fermi-Dirac Statistics: Three Techniques
- Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
- Band Diagrams
Week 6:
- Doping
- Donors and Acceptors
- Temperature Dependence
- Introduction to Non-Equilibrium
- Steady State, Transient, Equilibrium
Week 7:
- Recombination & Generation
- R-G Formula
- SRH Formula
- Direct and Auger Recombination
- Nature of Interface States
Week 8:
- Intro to Transport - Drift, Mobility, Diffusion, Einstein Relationship
- Drift Current
- Mobility
- Hall Effect
- Semiconductor Equations
- Continuity Equations
- Analytical Solutions
- Numerical Solutions
Week 9:
- Introduction to PN Junctions
- PN Diode I-V Characteristics
Week 10:
- PN Diode AC Response
- PN Diode Large Signal Response
- Schottky Diode
Week 11:
- MOS Electrostatics & MOScap
- Q-V Characteristics
- MOS Capacitor Signal Response
- MOSFET Introduction
Week 12:
- MOSFET Non-Idealities
- Flat Band Voltage
- Modern MOSFET
- Moore's Law Challenges
- Short Channel Effect
- Mobility Enhancement
Week 13:
- Bipolar Junction Transistor - Fundamentals
- Band Diagrams in Equilibrium
- Currents in BJTs
- Ebers Moll Model
Week 14:
- Bipolar Junction Transistor - Design
- Current Gain
- Base Doping Design
- Collector Doping (Kirk Effect, Base Pushout)
- Emitter Doping Design
- Poly-Si Emitter
- Shoe Base Transport
- Bipolar Junction Transistor – High Frequency Response
Week 15
- Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor
- Applications, Concept, Innovation, Nobel Prize
- Types of Heterojunctions,: Abrupt, Graded, Double
- Modern Designs
