1 credit
Spring 2026 Distance Learning Upper Division
This course about semiconductors is designed to provide a foundation to understand the operation of devices such as transistors, diodes, solar cells, light-emitting devices, etc. The course does not discuss devices - it prepares students to understand the operation of semiconductor devices. The treatment is physical and intuitive, and not heavily mathematical. Technology users will gain an understanding of the semiconductor physics that is the basis for devices. Semiconductor technology developers may find it a useful starting point for diving deeper into condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and materials science. The course presents an electrical engineering perspective on semiconductors, but those in other fields may find it a useful introduction to the approach that has guided the development of semiconductor technology for the past 50+ years. Topics include semiconductor fundamentals such as energy bands, bandgaps, effective masses, electrons and holes, and elements of quantum mechanics. The Fermi function, doping, and carrier densities are then discussed. Carrier transport and generation-recombination are examined along with the important concept of quasi-Fermi levels. The course concludes with the "semiconductor equations," which provide a complete, mathematical description of electrons and holes in semiconductors (subject to some important simplifying assumptions) and ends with a discussion of how energy band diagrams provide a qualitative solution to these equations.
Learning Outcomes1Be familiar with computing basic semiconductor quantities such as electron and hole drift and diffusion currents, recombination-generation rates, and quasi-Fermi levels.
2Simplify and apply the semiconductor equations to specific semiconductor problems.
3Draw and interpret energy band diagrams for specific semiconductor problems.
Prerequisites
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.