Physics of Electronic Devices

The course focuses on the fundamental physics concepts underlying the operation of common microelectronic devices. Starting from the fundamental properties of semiconductors, the course describes the operating principles of basic p-n junction, metal-semiconductor junction and metal-oxide-semiconductor junction. Using these building blocks, the course will provide a clear picture of the physics of conventional and advanced microelectronic devices for logic and memory applications. Moreover, the course presents an overview of the development and evolution of the key enabling technologies that allowed the fabrication and scaling of microelectronic device in modern integrated circuits.

At the end of the course the student will develop competences about:

1. electric and electronic properties of semiconducting materials and their band structures.
2. electrostatic analysis and charge transport in p-n junction, metal-semiconductor junction and MOS junction.
3. fundamental physics governing the operation of microelectronic devices: BJT, JFET, MESFET, MOSFET, memories
4. simple models describing the behavior of microelectronic devices
5. silicon technology for the fabrication of CMOS devices