Microelectronic Circuits

(4-0-0-4)

CMPE Degree: This course is Elective for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Required for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 0 supervised lab hours and 0 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Group(s) / Course Type(s): BSEE core (2012-13 curriculum), Electronic Design and Applications, Nanotechnology

Course Coordinator: Stephen E Ralph

Prerequisites: See topical outline

Corequisites: None.

Catalog Description

Basic concepts of microelectronic materials, devices and circuits.

Textbook(s)

Microelectronic Circuit Design, Semiconductor Device Fundamentals

Course Outcomes

  1. Compute carrier concentrations for semiconductor materials under a variety of conditions.
  2. Compute conductivity and resistivity of semiconductor materials under a variety of conditions.
  3. Compute terminal voltage and current characteristics for pn junction diodes under a variety of conditions.
  4. Compute terminal voltage and current characteristics for bipolar transistors under a variety of conditions.
  5. Compute terminal voltage and current characteristics for MOS transistors under a variety of conditions.
  6. Compute terminal voltage and current characteristics for ideal operational amplifiers under a variety of conditions.
  7. Analyze the DC performance of single-stage analog amplifiers containing these circuit elements.
  8. Analyze the AC performance of single-stage analog amplifiers containing these circuit elements.
  9. Analyze the DC performance of simple digital circuits (e.g., inverters and logic gates) containing these circuit elements.

Student Outcomes

In the parentheses for each Student Outcome:
"P" for primary indicates the outcome is a major focus of the entire course.
“M” for moderate indicates the outcome is the focus of at least one component of the course, but not majority of course material.
“LN” for “little to none” indicates that the course does not contribute significantly to this outcome.

1. ( P ) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics

2. ( LN ) An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors

3. ( LN ) An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

4. ( LN ) An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts

5. ( LN ) An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives

6. ( P ) An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions

7. ( M ) An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

Not Applicable

Course Objectives

  1. will understand the physical, electrical, and optical properties of semiconductor materials and their use in microelectronic circits. [6]
  2. relate the atomic and physical properties of semiconductor materials to device and circuit performance issues. [8]
  3. develop an understanding of the connection between device-level and circuit-level performance of microelectronic systems. [6,8]

Topical Outline

ECE 3043* and ECE 2031/20X2 and (ECE 2035 or ECE 2036) and ECE 2040 and CHEM 1310/1211K/12X1 and MATH 2401/2411/24X1 and MATH 2403/2413/24X3 [all ECE and MATH courses min C] * ECE 3040 and ECE 3043 normally must be taken

Introduction: Course mechanics, Silicon, Example of silicon devices, Conductivity
Basic Semiconductor Physics: Hydrogen Atom (briefly), Periodic potentials, Band structure, Effective mass, Mobility
Lattices Crystals and Dopants: Metals, Semiconductors and Insulators, Generation/Recombination, Crystal structure, Intrinsic and extrinsic and Doping, Carrier concentrations, electrons and holes, Donor and acceptor states
Fabrication, DOS, Fermi Statistics: Semiconductor Alloys, Carrier density and bandstructure, Fermi Statistics and Fermi level
Carrier Statistics: Temperature and doping effects, Extrinsic semiconductors, Donor/acceptor occupancy, Determination of Fermi Energy, Recombination and Generation
Carrier Transport: Drift velocity, Effective mass, Mobility and Saturation, Current density, Doping and temperature effects, Energy bands and electrostatic potential
Carrier Transport, Diffusion Fick’s Law, Total current, Einstein Relation, Equilibrium
Optical Properties: Absorption, Recombination and Generation
Return to Equilibrium: Low level injection, Quasi Fermi Levels, Direct recombination, Trap assisted
Equations of State: Continuity equation, Minority carrier diffusion equation (MCDE), Special cases of MCDE, Quasi Fermi levels and current
PN Junctions: Current Flow in PN junctions, Diffusion w forward/reverse bias, Junction electrostatics, Depletion region and bias, Quantitative solution, Carrier density and potential, Minority injection and Diffusion, Boundary conditions, Total current, Quasi Fermi Levels, Series resistance, High injection, Examples
Real PN Junctions: Capacitance, Recombination/generation, Avalanche/Zener
Circuit Models: Large signal models, Small Signal Models, Small signal model of PN diodes, Diffusion and Junction capacitance, Simple diode circuits
Photonic devices: Absorption, Photodiodes, Solar Cells, LEDs, Lasers
Intro to Transistors: Structure and nomenclature, Currents/band diagram, Biasing modes, Configurations, Alpha, beta (circuit level)
BJT quantitative derivation: Terminal currents, Ebers Moll model, Active mode currents, Simplified Ebers Moll: ideal current results (use to get output resistance in small sig model), Base width modulation
Small Signal Circuit Model: Small Signal analysis, General 2-port models, admittance parameters, DC analysis; Q point, bias stability, Hybrid pi model, Common Emitter examples, Source and Load impedance
MOS Capacitors: Energy levels and flatband, Static and Biased band shapes, Accumulation, depletion and inversion, NMOS and PMOS, Quantitative solution, Fields and Potentials
MOS Transistor: Qualitative description, Triode regime, Pinch-off and saturations regime, Quantitative derivation, Threshold voltage, Square Law
MOS Transistors: Deviations from ideal, Enhancement and depletion modes, MOSFETs small Signal, Admittance parameters, Terminal gain
DC Aspects of Amplifiers: Bias networks for MOSFETs, Current mirrors
Single Transistor Amplifiers: Inverting amplifiers, CS and CE, Follower Amplifiers CD and CC, Non-inverting Amplifiers CG and CB, Amplifier input and output resistance, Voltage and current amplifiers
Multi-stage Amplifiers: Configurations, Cascaded stages, DC equivalent, AC and small signal, Gain and I/O resistance, Op Amps