Master Course Outlines | Bucks County Community College

PHYS201 Solid State Electronic Devices Course No Longer Offered

3 credits

2250 minutes

CHEM101 (C or better) and PHYS106 (C or better)

None

The purpose of this course is to help students grasp the terminology, concepts, processes, products, and equipment commonly used in the manufacturing and application of solid-state electronic devices.

Course Learning Goals
The purpose of this course is to help students grasp the terminology, concepts, processes, products, and equipment commonly used in manufacturing semiconductor devices. The learning goals for the course are detailed below: The successful student will be able to:
1. Review the history of the semiconductor industry and describe semiconductor manufacturing processes.
2. Understand basic semiconductor manufacturing including yield, clean room, semiconductor fabrication, and IC chip test and packaging.
3. Explain electrical conductance using atomic structure, and calculate resistance. The students will appreciate the unique properties of pure silicon.
4. Be knowledgeable concerning analog and digital devices including diodes, bipolar transistors, and MOS and CMOS transistors.
5. Describe the processing of raw silicon into a silicon ingot and the basic process steps of wafer preparation from ingots.
6. Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the role of chemicals in the processing of semiconductors including wet (liquids) and dry (gases). Also the student will be knowledgeable concerning the many temperature dependent processes in semiconductor manufacturing.
7. List the many sources and deleterious effects of contamination in semiconductor wafers as well as the means to discover and prevent or minimize these effects.
8. Understand the properties, chemistry and process steps of oxidation of silicon
9. Catalog and explain the methods of deposition related to multi-layer integrated circuits with particular attention to CVD (chemical vapor deposition)
10. Catalog and explain the methods of metallization and low-K dielectrics and their roles in connectivity in multi-layer integrated circuits.
11. Demonstrate complete knowledge of each of the basic steps of the photolithography process
12. Understand the physical and chemical properties of the etching process with particular emphasis on plasma etching.
13. Explain doping of semiconductors and the role of ion implant technology
14. Explain CMP (chemical mechanical planarization) and its role in wafer processing
15. Discuss the electrical tests, the test equipment and the statistical analyses used to determine the integrity of the processed wafer.
16. Define the process steps and the equipment required to separate the wafer into individual circuits followed by electrical and mechanical assembly and packaging.
Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities
1. Introduction to the Semiconductor Industry.
  1. History, state of the art, and future directions
  2. Careers in semiconductor manufacturing
2. Chemical, physical and electrical characteristics of Semiconductor materials
  1. Atomic theory of conductors, insulators and semiconductors
  2. Basic electrical theory, laws and measurements
  3. The nature of Silicon
3. Device Technologies.
  1. Passive IC devices - Resistance, Capacitance, Inductance
  2. Silicon diode - Physical and Electrical characteristics
  3. Bipolar transistor - Physical and Electrical characteristics
  4. MOS transistor - Physical and Electrical characteristics
4. Production of the pure elements required for the manufacture of integrated circuits
  1. Silicon wafer preparation - crystalline growth
  2. Chemical processes in semiconductor fabrication
  3. Contamination control
  4. Metrology and defect inspection
  5. Gases used in semiconductor processing
5. Basic processes in silicon
  1. Oxidation chemistry of silicon
  2. Thermal processing of silicon
6. Deposition
  1. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
  2. Dielectric thin film
7. Metallization
  1. Types of metals
  2. Deposition methods
8. Photolithography
  1. Wafer preparation
  2. Photolithography equipment
  3. Photoresists and developing methods
9. Etch methods
  1. Wet etch methods
  2. Plasma and dry etch methods
10. Overview of a semiconductor fabrication process
  1. Ion implantation and process integration
  2. CMOS fabrication
  3. Testing, separation and packaging of devices
  4. Wafer tests
  5. Die preparation
  6. Electrical attachments
  7. Packaging for use on printed circuit boards
Assessment Methods for Course Learning Goals
Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Student:
Criteria for selection of text material. (See course format) Text material should include most, if not all, topics listed above. It is unlikely there is an existing single text that encompasses all these topics. A combination of handouts and on-line resources will be utilized. Material should be reviewed for content and level of presentation.

Courses + Programs

PHYS201 Solid State Electronic Devices

Department of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics: STEM Department Archive

Course Learning Goals

Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities

Assessment Methods for Course Learning Goals

Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Student: