Semiconductor Devices and Sensors

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Demonstrate the basic skills in semiconductor device engineering for integrated electronic or photonic circuit application.
• Understand the issues with semiconductor devices and the challenges for future electronic components.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• How semiconductor properties limitations influence device operation.
• The principle of operation of potentiometric sensors, ISFETs and reference electrodes.
• How to design features that determine semiconductor device characteristics.
• The basic operation of the most important semiconductor devices (e.g. p-n diode).
• The improvement of semiconductor device performances by fabrication process.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Characterise the pH and ion selectivity of ISFETs.
• Design, model and analyse a number of semiconductor device types.
• Investigate the characteristics and performance of different semiconductor devices.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Explain the principles of semiconductor sensors and give examples of their use in diagnostics.
• Appreciate semiconductor device technology that revolutionise the electronic industry.
• Differentiate the semiconductor devices for different electronic and photonic applications.
• Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the many and diverse aspects that relate to the operation and exploitation of semiconductor devices.

Review of Semiconductor Device and Technology

P-N Junction to Device Technology

MOSFETs and CMOS

• Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor and Metal-Semiconductor Interface
• MOS and MOSFET characteristics: Capacitance, Output Current and Threshold
• Enhancement and Depletion mode operation
• MOSFET scaling issues
• CMOS technology
• Future of MOS and MOSFETs
• MOS related devices – Thin Film Transistor, Nanowire FETs
• Fabrication of MOSFETs

Introduction to Bipolar Junction Transistors

• Review of BJTs
• BJT characteristics
• n-p-n and p-n-p BJT operation
• Gain and frequency response
• BJT technologies
• HBTs

Optoelectronic Devices

• Optical p-n junction devices
• Radiative transition in semiconductor
• Light Emitting Diodes
• Spectral response and emission efficiency
• LASER
• Gain characteristics and laser modes
• Photodetectors
• Integrated photonic device applications

Semiconductor sensors

• Physical chemistry of the electrode-electrolyte interface
• pH sensing
• ISFETs (lectures and laboratory)
• Nanowires and nanoribbons
• The principles of potentiometric sensors
• Nernst equation
• Reference electrodes
• Applications in medicine

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

S. Grimes and O. G. Martinsen (2014). Bioimpedance and Bioelectricity. Academic Press.

S. M. Sze (2002). Semiconductor Devices: Physics and Technology. Wiley.

S. O. Kasap. Optoelectronics and Photonics: Principles and Practices. Prentice Hall.

G. J. Parker (2004). Introductory Semiconductor Device Physics. Taylor and Francis.

B. Streetman & S. Banerjee. Solid State Semiconductor Devices. Prentice Hall.

R. Pethig and S. Smith (2013). Introductory Bioelectronics. Wiley.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External