This course will give students a comprehensive understanding of the underlying principles of operation, fabrication and testing processes that are used in research and industry to construct complex micro- and nanoelectronic semiconductor devices for applications in photonics and electronics. Students will be able to use this understanding to develop and predict the performance of fabricated devices of importance to modern semiconductor technologies.

Weekly

Monday 2-5pm

None.

None.

Degree Examination (50%).

Assignment Report on the topic of semiconductor device fabrication (50%).

■ To introduce students to the science underpinning the design and operation of selected semiconductor photonic and electronic devices.

■ To provide a historical perspective on the development of micro- and nano-fabrication technologies.

■ To give a practical understanding of the key industrial processes used in micro- and nano-fabrication, and the physical principles underpinning these processes.

■ To develop the student's ability to predict the outcomes of a variety of fabrication processes in the creation of and characterisation of practical microelectronic devices.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Explain the operating principles of key photonic and electronic semiconductor devices.

■ Recognise the historical significance of semiconductor devices and associated manufacturing processes.

■ Explain the physical and chemical processes underpinning key fabrication techniques (including epitaxy, lithography, oxidation, polishing, metallisation, ion implantation and etching).

■ Understand key methods for characterising and testing semiconductors (including optical spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction and Hall measurements)

■ Have an understanding of optical and other lithographic systems, and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

■ Understand how different processes are combined in a process flow to create semiconductor devices.

■ Have an awareness of clean-room operation and key aspects of health and safety associated with clean-room equipment and processes.

■ Understand testing approaches for the electrical and optical characterisation of example semiconductor devices.

Requirements for the award of credits

To ensure that a student will be awarded the credits for a course, he or she must complete the course and reach a minimum level of attainment. This requires that a student:

■ be present at lectures, laboratories and tutorials on at least 50% of occasions at which attendance is monitored,

■ satisfactorily complete the assignments in the laboratories,

■ attend the class test (if held) and gain a nonzero mark and

■ attend the degree examination and gain a nonzero mark

Note that these are minimum requirements: good students will achieve far higher partici-pa-tion rates. Any student who misses an assessment or a significant number of classes because of illness or other good cause should report this by completing a Websurf absence report.