1. Welcome to
Physics 5335:
The Physics of
Semiconductors!

2. Parts of this are UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Class Website!
Parts of this are UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
There you will find:
Posted: Syllabus, Help Resources, Semiconductor Resources, Exams & Homework (eventually with solutions).
Posted: Lectures
Important Class Announcements & Calendar Items!
Links to Web Pages for semiconductor physics
Other important items relating to this class.
PLEASE!!
Get into the habit of checking this page often!

3. The Announcement Page:
Linked from the Phys 5335 Home Page is:
The Announcement Page:
It contains class announcements & major calendar items. Please check it often!
My Web Page
You might also want to check out My Web page:

4. Homework will be assigned regularly!!
Homework = 40% of Grade
Homework will be assigned regularly!!
It may come from our text or elsewhere.
Working problems is the most effective means of learning physics.
Homework is due at 5PM on the due date.
NO late homework will be accepted
You are strongly encouraged to work on
homework, in groups together! This is how most scientists & engineers work in the “real” world!

5. Mid Term Exam = 30% of Grade
It Will be a Take Home Exam:
BUT
It will have mostly qualitative questions that must be answered using words, not math.
The idea of this is to assess your
understanding of physical concepts.
Your understanding of the needed math skills will be assessed with Homework.

6. Semester Project = 30% of Grade (instead of a Final Exam!)
Oral Presentation + Written Paper
Library Research on an advanced topic or application of semiconductor physics we don’t have time for in class.
Choose the topic by Mid-Semester
(Monday, October 24)
Have the topic approved by me before starting.
Oral Presentations
Will be scheduled during final exam period
(December 9-14)
A Written Paper
Will also be due at that time.

7. To Succeed in this Course
READ the book, which cost you many $$$!
It’s most effective to read the material BEFORE I lecture on it.
READ some of the supplementary books or other resources to give you different treatments of the material.
WORK the assigned homework problems!!
It is IMPOSSIBLE to learn physics
without working problems!!!
Copying other people’s solutions or solutions from the web will NOT teach you physics!

8. I urge you to shop around
Primary Textbook
Semiconductor Physics & Applications
by M. Balkansi & R.F. Wallis.
Portions of lectures will be from it, but also from the 2 supplements.
Topics will be discussed in approximately the same order as the table of contents.
Material from many other sources will also be used.
It's available at bookstores (?), on-line, in hardbound or paperback.
I urge you to shop around
& find the best price.

9. Supplemental Textbooks Fundamentals of Semiconductors,
Optional. Some portions of the course will use some information in them.
Fundamentals of Semiconductors,
by P.Y. Yu & M. Cardona.
2. Semiconductor Physics
by K. Seeger.

10. SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS.
Course Objectives:
To expose students to the rich, broad, varied field of
SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS.
This ISN'T a semiconductor device course, but a course on the microscopic material properties of semiconductor materials!!
A semiconductor device course is Physics 5336, Device Physics.

11. Course Objectives:
This course is designed to complement & supplement Physics 5304, Solid State Physics (offered Fall in odd numbered years). Obviously, there is large overlap between Solid State & Semiconductors, but one course should NOT be considered a replacement for the other!!
We'll discuss the microscopic physics of mostly, CRYSTALLINE semiconductors. It would help if you already knew some basic solid state physics, but it isn’t vital!

12. What is Semiconductor Physics?
“Semiconductor Physics” can be defined as study of the materials that are important for modern technology. As we'll see, the physics of semiconductor materials is really much more than that!
It is a very important branch of the broader discipline of “Solid State Physics”, which is study of the microscopic properties of the dense assembly of electrons formed by placing atoms very close together in a solid.

13. What is Semiconductor Physics?
“Semiconductor Physics” a very important branch of the broader discipline of “Solid State Physics”, which is study of the microscopic properties of the dense assembly of electrons formed by placing atoms very close together in a solid.
Solid State Physics is a very large, very broad physics sub-field.

14. Particle Physics focuses on properties of INDIVIDUAL particles.
In some sense, Solid State Physics is “the opposite” of Particle Physics.
Particle Physics focuses on properties of INDIVIDUAL particles.
Particle physicists break objects up into their constituent building blocks.

15. In some sense, Solid State Physics is “the opposite” of Particle Physics.
Solid State Physics deals with the microscopic properties of Large COLLECTIONS of particles.
Solid State physicists are interested in what fundamentally NEW PROPERTIES emerge when these building blocks are grouped together in various ways.

16. Motivations for Studying Semiconductor Physics
There are both Technological & Basic Physics motivations to study Semiconductor Physics.

17. Motivations for Studying Semiconductor Physics
Technological Motivations
A very important motivation is that the microscopic properties Semiconductor Physics deals with are responsible for the majority of modern technology.
These properties determine the mechanical strength of materials, how they interact with light, how they conduct electricity, etc.
So, Semiconductor Physics is important for technology, because it gives guidance on the design the circuits needed for modern electronic devices.

18. Technological Motivations,
Continued: This field gave us the transistor & the semiconductor chip!
So, Semiconductor Physics is traditionally linked to materials science, chemistry & engineering.
Recently, it has developed overlaps with biology, biochemistry, biotechnology & medicine.
So, many current research questions in Semiconductor Physics are still at the frontiers of applied science & next-generation technologies.

19. Motivations for Studying Semiconductor Physics
Basic Physics Motivations
A very important motivation to study Semiconductor Physics is that the fundamental physics needed to understand the microscopic properties of these materials is very interesting.
To understand these properties, the ideas & methods of quantum mechanics must be used. The physics of solids is
VERY Deeply Quantum Mechanical.

20. Basic Physics Motivations, Continued
To understand the microscopic properties of semiconductors (or of solids in general), the ideas & methods of quantum mechanics must be used. The physics of solids is
VERY deeply quantum mechanical.
Semiconductor Physics has sometimes been called the best “lab” for studying subtle quantum mechanical effects. This course may be a first chance for students to see quantum mechanical ideas & methods applied to cases where their technological consequences are so important.

21. 1. The Quantum Hall Effect 2. The Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
Just 2 examples (of MANY!) in which Semiconductor Physics discoveries have revealed very interesting, fundamental physics are observations/explanations of
1. The Quantum Hall Effect
2. The Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
Both have exotic quantum mechanical explanations.

22. Semiconductor Physics!!!
A strong indicator that Semiconductor Physics has led (& continues to lead!) to the understanding of many very interesting basic physics phenomena is the fact that:
More than 40% of Physics Nobel Prizes in the past 40 years & 50% of those in the past 12 years have been for work in
Semiconductor Physics!!!

23. The Semiconductor Physics Research Area:
Many of you are likely taking this course because it is related to your research area. You've chosen a very good, interesting field! LARGE quantities of new physics is discovered in this area (& in its “parent field” of Solid State) all of the time.

24. ~(1/3) of the ~ 50,000 APS members belong to DCMP.
For example, the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Condensed Matter Physics or DCMP ("Condensed Matter" is ~ the same as “Solid State”) is, BY FAR, the largest APS division!
~(1/3) of the ~ 50,000 APS members belong to DCMP.

25. Another APS division is the Division of Materials Physics or DMP (“Materials Physics” is ~ the same as “Applied Solid State”), started ~ 20 years ago.
The DMP is rapidly growing & may eventually become similar in size to the DCMP. (Many people belong to both!).

26. BY FAR, the largest annual APS meeting is the joint DCMP & DMP meeting
BY FAR, the largest annual APS meeting is the joint DCMP & DMP meeting. It is held each March (it's called the “March Meeting” !).
The 2016 March Meeting
(Baltimore, MD):
~7,000+ people &
~5,000+ papers!

27. The American Physical Society (APS)
Advertisement!!
The American Physical Society (APS)
No matter what their research area is
Every Physics Graduate Student,
+ every undergrad who wants to go to graduate school
should join the APS!!
The first year's membership is FREE to students & the following student years are highly discounted!

28. The Materials Research Society (MRS)
Graduate students working in Solid State,
Condensed Matter, or Materials Physics
should also consider joining the MRS!!
The MRS is another large professional organization, but it has a very interdisciplinary membership. This reflects the fact that people with many different backgrounds are doing various kinds of materials research. For example, it has members with backgrounds in Physics, in Chemistry, & in various types of Engineering:
Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical,…..