ELEC-E3140: Semiconductor Physics
| Course name | Semiconductor Physics |
|---|---|
| Course code | ELEC-E3140 |
| Period | I-II |
| Lecturer | Markku Sopanen |
Description
The course gives a good overview of semiconductor materials. The most important topics are crystal structures, energy band structure and carrier statistics, electrical and optical properties, semiconductor nanostructures, pn-junctions, and an introduction to important semiconductor devices.
This is an optional course in both Engineering Physics master’s programmes, the Advanced Energy Technologies major, and the Materials Physics and Quantum Technology major.
Course material
Official material
PowerPoint slides from lectures and exercises together with their solutions. There is no official textbook, but the course closely follows Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices by Pallab Bhattacharya and Semiconductor Optoelectronics by Jasprit Singh. The final lectures also relate to Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits by C. C. Hu.
Extra material
Contents and workload
Overall workload
The course is not especially demanding compared to bachelor’s level physics courses, but there is a substantial amount of material.
Weekly contents
| Week | Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction, crystal binding, crystal structures |
| 2 | Miller indices, energy bands, reciprocal space, Bloch theorem, real band structures |
| 3 | Semiconductor alloys, heterostructures, bandgap engineering, quantum structures |
| 4 | Crystal defects, crystal growth, epitaxy, processing |
| 5 | Doping, density of states, carrier statistics, intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, compensation and modulation doping |
| 6 | Scattering, mobility, carrier transport, diffusion |
| 7 | Recombination processes, excitons, Auger recombination, continuity equation |
| 8 | Light absorption and emission, Franz–Keldysh effect, quantum confined Stark effect |
| 9 | pn-junction formation, equilibrium, biased junctions, current flow, breakdown |
| 10 | Diodes, transistors, optoelectronics, detectors, solar cells, LEDs, lasers |
Practicalities
There is one lecture and one exercise session each week. Exercise sessions consist of solution demonstrations and do not provide extra points. The course can be completed through midterm exams and lecture quizzes or a final exam with or without quizzes. One handwritten A4 sheet is allowed in each midterm and two A4 sheets in the final exam.
Related courses
Official prerequisites
Recommended prerequisite: Basic university physics.
Additional prerequisites
PHYS-C0240: Materiaalifysiikka is beneficial but not required. The most important topics are revised during the course.
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