Semiconductor Electronics

About the course

In Semiconductor Electronics, elementary physical processes in semiconductor materials are discussed and important device characteristics are derived. The excercises comprise application specific device calculations that validate and support the device theory gained in the lectures. In the laboratory, students are able to transfer theoretical assumptions to practical measurements of different semiconductor materials and devices. Moreover, students learn how to present their measurement results in an adaquate, scientific manner.

Curriculum

Content ("K" Knowledge; "U" Understanding; "AP" Applying; "AN" Analyzing; "E" Evaluation):
1.Solid-State Semiconductor Physics: Wave-Particle Duality (K, U)
      a.    Schrödinger-Equation
      b.    Kronig/Penney Model
      c.    Derivation of Energy Bands in Solids
2.Charge Carrier Concentration: Thermal Equilibrium (K, U)
      a.    Density of States
      b.    Fermi-statistics
3.Intrinsic Conduction and Doping in Semiconductors:Thermal Equilibrium (K, U)
      a.    Fermi-energy
      b.    Volume potential
4.The Semiconductor at Non-Equilibrium (K, U)
      a.    Fundamental Semiconductor Equations
      b.    Continuity (Generation/Recombination)
      c.    Poisson Equation
      d.    Diffusion- and Field-induced Currents
      e.    Quasi-Fermi Energy
5.pn-junction at low-currents (K, U)
      a.    Shockley Assumptions
      b.    Derivation: IV-Characteristics
      c.    Break-down Voltage
      d.    Shockley/Read/Hall-Recombination Theory (SRH)
6.MOSFET&JFET(K, U)
      a.    IV-Characteristics
      b.    MOS capacitors
      c.    Theory of MOSFET transistors
      d.    Simulation models

Methods ("K" Knowledge; "U" Understanding; "AP" Applying; "AN" Analyzing; "E" Evaluation):
* Calculation, Development and Optimization of Modern Semiconductor Devices Based on Lecture-mediated Knowledge (U, AP, AN)
* Semiconductor Measurement and Characterization Techniques (AP, AN)
Evaluation ("K" Knowledge; "U" Understanding; "AP" Applying; "AN" Analyzing; "E" Evaluation):
* Systematic Analysis, Processing, Presentation, and Evaluation of Measurement Data (AN, E)

Credit hours

Presence study: 60 h, self-study:, Exam preparation: 120 h. The assessment will be through a written examination at the end of the semester.