PHY 3700 - Physics of Electronic Materials and Semiconductor Devices

3 lecture hours 2 lab hours 4 credits

Course Description
This subject provides students with the fundamentals of electronic materials including semiconductor physics and its application to common semiconductor devices and properties of metals, dielectrics, and magnetic materials. The course starts with quantum theory of the hydrogen atom and photon interactions, multi-electron atoms, Pauli exclusion principle, and the periodic table. Next, cubic crystal structures, dipoles and properties of dielectrics, and magnetic materials are introduced. The band theory of solids and theory of semiconductors is developed including energy gap, Fermi-Dirac statistics, mobility of electrons and holes, Ohm's law, influence of temperature on conductivity, doping, photoconductivity, drift and diffusion of charge carriers, and the (Shockley) ideal diode equation. Then, properties of the abrupt p-n junction are studied and applied to various practical devices including the signal diode, breakdown diode, varactor diode, photo-diode, light-emitting diode, LASER diode, solar cell, bipolar junction transistor, thyristor, metal-semiconductor contacts, MOS capacitor, and finally field effect transistors. Heterojunction structures and IGBTs are also studied. The course has a very strong laboratory component. About half the experiments illustrate fundamental properties of electronic and semiconductor materials and half explore the characteristics and properties of a variety of semiconductor devices. Semiconductor manufacturing methods and the Li ion battery are also introduced.
Prereq: PHY 1120, MTH 1120) (quarter system prereq: PH 2021, MA 137)
Note: None
This course meets the following Raider Core CLO Requirement: None

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Relate the structure of the periodic table to the electronic structure of atoms and the valence electrons
Characterize the four cubic crystal types, relate lattice constant to atomic density and use Miller indices to identify crystal planes
Relate the dielectric constant to the electric dipole moment density
Relate the magnetic permeability to the magnetic dipole moment density
Differentiate electron energy bands in metals, semiconductors and insulators
Correlate the band gap energy and the atomic size in elementary, binary, ternary and quaternary semiconductors
Calculate intrinsic carrier density of a semiconductor from the energy band gap and temperature
Relate majority and minority carrier concentrations to the doping density and Fermi level
Determine majority carrier type, concentration and drift velocity from the Hall voltage, magnetic field and current
Calculate electrical conductivity from charge carrier densities and mobilities and relate drift current to electric field and voltage
Predict resistance of a semiconductor from the incident light intensity, wavelength, band gap, recombination time and dimensions
For a p-n junction, calculate built-in potential, capacitance and current in forward or reverse bias from the doping levels, band gap, dimensions, and applied voltage
Distinguish the regions of drift and diffusion current in a forward bias p-n junction
Calculate the breakdown voltage from the critical electric field in a dielectric or p-n junction
Describe the basic operation of photodetectors, solar cells, LEDs and LASER diodes and determine the open circuit voltage, short circuit current and efficiency of a solar cell or photodiode from the doping levels, device dimensions and optical generation rate
Predict the common emitter current gain of a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) from the doping levels and device dimensions, identify regions of minority carrier diffusion and explain the Early effect
Describe the operational states of a thyristor
Relate the variation in capacitance with gate voltage in a MOS capacitor
Determine the threshold voltage, channel conductance and saturation current of a MOSFET from the doping levels and device dimensions and explain how the gate and drain voltages influence the channel current
Identify the four regions of an IGBT and describe their function
Describe the main steps in the fabrication of a MOSFET

Prerequisites by Topic

Physics of mechanics
Physics of electric and magnetic fields
Electric potential
Differential and integral calculus

Course Topics

Basic quantum theory of the atom, periodic table structure, electron affinity
Crystal structure, Miller indices
Theory of dielectrics, dipoles, and the dielectric constant
Theory of magnetic materials, dipoles and magnetic permeability
Energy band theory
Charge carrier concentrations, p and n doping: Fermi statistics
Charge carrier drift and diffusion
Hall effect
Thermistors and photoconductivity
p-n junction
Dielectric breakdown
Photonic p-n junction devices including heterojunction
Bipolar junction transistor
Thyristor
MOSFET
IGBT
Device fabrication: crystal growth, photolithography, and plasma processing
Li ion battery

Laboratory Topics

Hydrogen atom electron energy levels and photon emission
B-H curve
Hall effect
Majority carrier type and concentration using hot and four-point probes
Extrinsic to intrinsic conductivity transition with temperature
Band gap determination by photonic absorption: direct and indirect
Carrier lifetime in a CdS photocell
p-n junction reverse bias capacitance
p-n junction forward and reverse I-V characteristics and ideality factor
Photovoltaic effect: solar cell V_oc, I_sc, P_max, FF, efficiency
BJT current gain and Early effect
MOS capacitor
MOSFET: linear and saturation characteristics
LED as photodetector and I-V characteristics of various two terminal devices: rectifiers, breakdown diodes, LEDs

Coordinator
Dr. Richard Mett

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