Fundamentals of Semiconductor Characterization (Coursera)

Many of you may have already completed a semester-long class focused on devices, perhaps even more than one. However, if you took that class a while ago or have only the minimum exposure to semiconductor devices, we have developed this short course to review the fundamentals you will need to be successful in this specialization.

This course is part of the Semiconductor Characterization Specialization.

What you'll learn

- Review energy band diagrams of metals, semiconductors, and insulators.

- Explain the relationship between conductivity, carrier concentration, and mobility.

- Distinguish between direct and indirect bandgap semiconductors.

Syllabus

Course Introduction

The goal of this course is to review the fundamentals of semiconductor materials, p-n junction diodes, and MOS capacitors. There are many semiconductor technologies based on different material systems, but the most important is complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, or CMOS for short. This course will focus on semiconductor materials and devices relevant to CMOS manufacturing, but the concepts can be applied much more broadly. Many of you may have already completed a semester-long class focused on devices, perhaps even more than one. However, if you took that class a while ago or have only the minimum exposure to semiconductor devices, we have developed this short course to review the fundamentals you will need to be successful in this specialization.

Week 1.1: Semiconductor Basics

This week provides a brief overview of the basics of semiconductors. This information may be familiar to some, but it may provide a solid introduction to others.

Week 1.2: P-N Junction Diodes

This week, you will learn about the band diagrams and current voltage characteristics of p-n junction diodes.

Week 1.3: MOS Capacitors

This week, you will learn about metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors and oxide charges.