Course Policies
Review the course evaluation criteria, grading schemes, examination rules, and academic honesty policies for Autumn 2026.
Lecture 1: Foundations
Dive into the basic physics of semiconductor materials, exploring intrinsic vs. extrinsic properties, doping, and interactive lattice models.
Lecture 2: Quantum Mechanics
Explore wave-particle duality, Schrödinger's wave equation, particle confinement in potential wells, quantum tunnelling, and the one-electron atom.
Lecture 3: Theory of Solids
Discover the origins of energy bands in crystal lattices, explore the Kronig-Penney model, Bloch's theorem, and construct E-k diagrams.
Lecture 4: Carrier Transport
Understanding effective mass, the density of states, and the Fermi-Dirac probability function in extrinsic and intrinsic semiconductors.
Lecture 5: Drift & Diffusion
Understanding how charge carriers move in a semiconductor under the influence of electric fields and concentration gradients.
Lecture 6: Non-Equilibrium
Exploring ambipolar transport, the continuity equation, and how semiconductors behave when pushed out of their thermodynamic resting state.
Lecture 7: The PN Junction
Exploring the Haynes-Shockley experiment, Quasi-Fermi levels, SRH recombination, and the foundational physics of the PN junction.
Lecture 8: Ideal pn junction diodes
Delve into the space charge region under applied bias, junction capacitance, Zener and Avalanche breakdown, and ideal I-V characteristics.
Lecture 9: Real Diode Model
Investigate generation/recombination currents, small-signal models, switching transients, charge storage, and the degenerately doped tunnel diode.
Lecture 10: Dissimilar Materials
Explore Schottky barriers, thermionic emission, ohmic contacts, and the physics of Two-Dimensional Electron Gases (2-DEG) in heterostructures.