Master Course Description for EE-482 (ABET sheet)

Title: Semiconductor Devices

Credits: 4

UW Course Catalog Description

Coordinator: M. P. Anantram, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Goals: To extend the elementary knowledge of semiconductor physics that students have already acquired in prior courses. To provide students with a more advanced understanding of elementary band theory and the operation of important electronic devices such as pn junction diodes, metal-semiconductor contacts, MOSFETs and BJTs.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Translate a physical understanding of semiconductor devices into a mathematical formulation that will lead to a quantitative description of device operation.
  2. Understand various physical approximations that would be used to solve the governing equations for quantitative description of device operation.
  3. Understand the limitations of some device models.
  4. Model semiconductor devices using TCAD tools.

Textbook: Ben G. Streetman and Sanjay K. Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices, 6th Ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Reference Texts:

  1. Donald A. Neamen, An Introduction to Semiconductor Devices, Prentice Hall, 2000.
  2. R. S. Muller and T. I. Kamins, Device Electronics for Integrated Circuits, 3rd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
  3. R. Pierret, Semiconductor Device Fundamentals, Pearson, 1996.

Laboratory Handbook: There is no lab.

Prerequisites by Topic:

  1. Basic carrier concepts: holes and electrons, drift and diffusion.
  2. Basic energy band concepts: conduction and valence band, simple energy band diagrams.
  3. Simple pn-junction diode concepts: minority carrier distributions in n and p regions.
  4. Electrostatics: understanding of and ability to apply Poisson's equation.
  5. Basics of semiconductors (EE-331).
  6. Differential equations (MATH-307).
  7. Computational: Matlab. Basic linux will be useful but not essential.

Topics:

  1. Introduction of energy bands and E(k) diagrams
  2. Semiconductor physics in equilibrium
  3. Carrier transport phenomena
  4. Non-equilibrium excess carriers in semiconductors
  5. Analysis of pn-junction diodes
  6. Metal-semiconductor junctions
  7. MOS field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
  8. Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
  9. Concept of direct and indirect bandgap materials
  10. Fundamentals of light emitting diodes and solar cells
  11. Hands on experience with device simulation tool (Sentaurus)

Course Structure: The class meets for four 50-minute lectures per week. There are regular homeworks, one midterm exam and a project/exam at the end of the course.

Computer Resources: Matlab or Python; EE linux lab.

Laboratory Resources: There is no lab in the course.

Grading: Homework, Exam and Project are all equally weighted.

ABET Student Outcome Coverage: This course addresses the following outcomes:

H = high relevance, M = medium relevance, L = low relevance to course.

(1) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics. (H) The vast majority of the lectures and homework assignments deal with: (A) translating the fundamental concepts to quantitatively describe devices with desired current-voltage characteristics; (B) solving engineering problems by showing the students (i) how to formulate the necessary governing equations and (ii) how to solve these equations with appropriate approximations guided by physical understandings of each device's operation.

Prepared By: M. P. Anantram

Last Revised: April 15, 2019