BEng Electronic Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

Brief Description of the Unit:

1. Integrated circuit process technology. Photolithography, diffusion and ion implantation doping, annealing, dielectric films, thermal growth mechanisms, chemical vapour deposition, polycrystalline silicon and silicon nitride deposition.
2. Metal­-semiconductor junction characteristics, small signal equivalent circuit and the associated parameters.
3. nMOS and pMOS transistors, CMOS technology, the CMOS inverter, planar fabrication of CMOS integrated circuits.
4. MOS transistor's gate and junction capacitances.
5. Current control in MOS transistors, modelling of the MOS transistor, regions of MOS device operation.
6. Small signal equivalent circuits in MOSFETs and their associated parameters.
7. State­-of-­the-­art and emerging device architectures, high­-k metal gate CMOS process, strained silicon, silicon on insulator, FinFET devices.

The course unit aims to:

(1) Introduce the key components of microelectronic devices.

(2) Introduce modern integrated circuit manufacturing techniques.

(3) Emphasise the importance of semiconductor device models.

All of the following Intended Learning Outcomes are developed and assessed. On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

ILO 1 -  Describe and apply the key physical concepts necessary to explain the properties of semiconductor materials.

ILO 2 - Explain metal-semiconductor junctions in terms of vacuum level, electron affinity and work function for Schottky and Ohmic contacts.

ILO 3 - Explain the physics of MOS devices with the aid of energy band diagrams and space charge distribution.

ILO 4 - Define and calculate the threshold voltage necessary for strong inversion in ideal, as well as non-ideal MOS devices.

ILO 5 - Explain the gradual channel model describing the current control in MOSFETs and analyse small signal device equivalent circuits with associated parameters.

ILO 6 - Design and explain the operation of simple CMOS logic structures including CMOS inverters.

ILO 7 - Describe the fundamental processes involved in silicon-integrated circuit manufacture, including sustainable use of materials and eco-friendly IC fabrication protocols

ILO 8 - Discuss the enormous technical challenges presented by modern and emerging integrated circuit technologies considering sustainability, risk and security aspects of IC manufacture

1. Solid State Electronic Devices, Streetman & Banerjee, PEARSON (7-ed) (Core)
2. Microelectronic Circuits, Sedra & Smith, Oxford (7-ed) (Essential)
3. The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication, S.A. Campbell, Oxford (Essential)
4. Semiconductor Devices (Physics and Technology), S.M. Sze (Recommended)
5. Silicon VLSI Technology: Fundamentals, Practice, and Modelling, J.D. Plummer,  M.D. Deal, P.B. Griffin (Recommended)
6. IC Fabrication Technology, G. Bose (Recommended)