PHZ 3442 - Semiconductor Physics

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: PHY3101 Introduction To Modern Physics
Course Description: The course addresses fundamental concepts of semiconductor physics and provides the students with a solid background for further specialization in the area of Engineering Physics for electronics, optoelectronics, sensors and energy harvesting. Starting with a review of quantum mechanics and the solution of Schrödinger’s equation in a periodic crystal, the effective mass of carriers and the band structure of semiconductors will be derived. The course will provide the students with a deep understanding of the underlying microscopic Physics behind the transport properties of semiconductors (Fermi level, intrinsic carrier concentration, temperature dependence, extrinsic semiconductors, dopant energies, extrinsic carrier density, kinetic theory, Boltzmann transport, mobility and diffusion, drift-diffusion equations), as well as the optical properties of semiconductors (optical absorption, generation-recombination, carrier lifetime). In the last part of the course, an introduction to bipolar junctions and semiconductor devices will be presented.