MEng Mechatronic Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

This course will cover the following topics:

Introduction to nanotechnology and its importance in today’s society

Elementary Materials Science

• Atomic structure and elementary particles (proton, neutron, electron and photon)
• Bonding and types of solid (e.g. metals, insulators and semiconductors)
• Crystal structure

Electrical and thermal conduction

• Drude model (metals and conduction)
• Temperature effects on conduction (conductivity and thermal resistance)

Modern Model of Solids

• Band theory of solids (electrons and holes in periodic potentials)
• Effective mass and density of states
• Fermi energy, ionisation potential and work function

Semiconductors

• Energy diagrams in k-space (direct and indirect bandgaps)
• Conduction in semiconductors (electron/hole populations)
• Intrinsic/Extrinsic semiconductors (n-type and p-type doping)
• Temperature & impurity dependence of conductivity (drift mobility)

Semiconductor Devices

• p-n, p-i-n junctions (forward/reverse biased, depletion & capacitance)
• Bi-polar and FET devices
• Optical devices (LEDs, PV, …) 

The course unit aims to: Introduce nanotechnology and its importance in today’s society (e.g. applications in healthcare, security, and energy) Introduce basic materials physics and explain how insulating, semiconducting and metallic properties arise in solids. Explain how semiconductors can be engineered (e.g. via doping) to exhibit controlled electrical and optical properties within a device. Describe the fundamental building blocks and operation of key semiconductor devices (e.g. field effect transistors)

ILO 1 - Calculate electron/hole concentrations and Fermi energy in doped semiconductors.

ILO 2 - Describe the different types of conduction in solids and explain how temperature affects this conduction.

ILO 3 - Sketch energy band diagrams for different types of solids, including n-type and p-type doped semiconductors.

ILO 4 - Explain how a p-n/p-i-n junction operates in forward and reverse bias and describe its applications in MOSFET and BJT devices

ILO 5 - Calculate the built-in potential, depletion width, diffusion current in a pn junction and emitter/base/collector current in a BJT

ILO 6 - Describe different types of solids (metals, semiconductors, insulators), bonding and crystal structure

• Lectures (use of lecture slides to introduce content)
• Interactive online Kahoot multiple-choice quizzes during lectures
• Discussion Forum on Blackboard
• Use of Dashboard during lectures to collect questions and queries (e.g. revision topics to cover)
• Throwable Microphone
• Problem Classes (peer-learning on tutorial-style questions).

Online Multiple-Choice Quiz.

Length: 30 Minutes

How and when feedback is provided: Immediate via marks on Blackboard.

Weighting: 0% * forms part of the unseen exam

Coursework: 2 Laboratory Sessions that are assessed by submission of assessment form with key questions based around on lab session and data collected.

Length: 3 Hours

How and when feedback is provided: 2 weeks after submission via marks and feedback comments on Blackboard.

Weighting: 10%

Tutorial Questions: Activity delivered as part of weekly tutorials:

How and when feedback is provided: 1 week after submission.

Weighting: 10%

Online Multiple-Choice Quiz: How and when feedback is provided: Immediate via marks on Blackboard.

Coursework: How and when feedback is provided: 2 weeks after submission via marks and feedback comments on Blackboard. 

Tutorial Questions: Activity delivered as part of weekly tutorials: How and when feedback is provided: 1 week after submission.

Principles of electronic materials and devices by Kasap, Safa. McGraw-Hill Education, 2018. ISBN: 9781260547368

Semiconductor devices: physics and technology by Sze, S. M. Wiley, 2013. ISBN: 9781118507445

Fundamentals of modern VLSI devices by Taur, Yuan. Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780521832946