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Graduate courses

Departments' graduate courses for PhD-students.

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Syllabus for

 Academic year
FMI040 - Semiconductor materials physics  
Halvledarfysik - material och heterostrukturer
 
Syllabus adopted 2017-02-18 by Head of Programme (or corresponding)
Owner: MPNAT
7,5 Credits
Grading: TH - Five, Four, Three, Fail
Education cycle: Second-cycle
Major subject: Engineering Physics
Department: 59 - MICROTECHNOLOGY AND NANOSCIENCE


Teaching language: English
Application code: 18112
Open for exchange students: Yes
Block schedule: B
Maximum participants: 30

Module   Credit distribution   Examination dates
Sp1 Sp2 Sp3 Sp4 Summer course No Sp
0102 Examination 7,5c Grading: TH   7,5c   04 Jun 2020 pm J,  12 Oct 2019 am M   21 Aug 2020 pm J

In programs

MPAEM MATERIALS ENGINEERING, MSC PROGR, Year 1 (elective)
MPNAT NANOTECHNOLOGY, MSC PROGR, Year 1 (elective)
MPPHS PHYSICS, MSC PROGR, Year 1 (elective)

Examiner:

Saroj Prasad Dash

  Go to Course Homepage


Eligibility:


In order to be eligible for a second cycle course the applicant needs to fulfil the general and specific entry requirements of the programme that owns the course. (If the second cycle course is owned by a first cycle programme, second cycle entry requirements apply.)
Exemption from the eligibility requirement: Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling these requirements.

Course specific prerequisites

Basic course in solid state physics

Aim

The aim of the course is both to give a broad overview of the semiconductor materials field, and an understanding of the physics of semiconductor materials as well as the properties of different types of hetero- and quantum-structures. Also, the fabrication (synthetization) and characterization of semiconductors and quantum-structures, is treated.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)



- Know about semiconductor materials, important discoveries,
and their impact on our society.

- Acquire basic information about electronic structures and
classification of different materials such as metals, semimetals, graphene,
semiconductors, insulators, topological Insulators.

- Describe how the electron energy dispersion affects the
electron mass, mobility and electronic transport.

- Understand how the defects and dopants affect the electronic
properties of semiconductors.

- Understand and interpret band diagrams of semiconductor
heterostructures.

- Understand the principles of quantum mechanical effects in
semiconductor nanostructures.

- Describe methods for single crystal growth and epitaxy of
semiconductor materials.

- Information about the discovery and physics of 2D materials
such as graphene, h-BN, MoS2, topological insulators and their heterostructures.

- Understand and describe the charge and spin polarized
electronic transport in semiconductors and novel 2D materials.

Content



Introduction: general course information, historical
background, semiconductors today, future materials and novel phenomena.



Electron structure : Semiconductor crystal structure, electronic energy
band structure, materials classification such as metals, semi-metals, graphene,
semiconductors, insulators, topological insulators.



Electron transport : Charge transport in semiconductors, electronic effect of
impurities, charge carrier scattering, diffusive and ballistic transport.



Semiconductor surfaces, interfaces and heterostructures : metal-semiconductor Schottky
contacts, semiconductor-semiconductor
junctions, semiconductor-insulator interfaces.



Semiconductor growth and
nanofabrication technology and applications:
Crystal growth, epitaxial growth, nanofabrication, electronic and
optoelectronic devices.



Semiconductor quantum structures: Quantum-wells, -wires and -dots; Electronic and optical
properties in quantum structures.



Quantum device physics in semiconductors : Coulomb blockade, quantum point contacts, weak localization, Aharonov-Bohm effect, Shubnikov de Haas oscillations and Quantum Hall effects.



Novel two-dimensional (2D)
materials : Electronic and quantum properties of
2D materials such as - graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), MoS2 and their
heterostructures.



Spin polarized electron transport in semiconductors : Introduction to spintronics, spin scattering and
relaxation processes in semiconductors, spin transport and
dynamics in semiconductors.



Spin polarized electron transport in 2D materials
heterostructures : Spin transport in graphene, spin polarized tunneling
through h-BN, spin and valley polarization in MoS2.



Topological insulators: Electronic
band structure of topological insulators, spin polarized current in
topological insulators.

Organisation

  • Lectures.
  • Three compulsory home assignments.
  • Two compulsory lab exercises.
  • One compulsory project assignment.

Literature

  1. Semiconductor physics and devices, Donald Neamen
  2. Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications
    Igor Zutić, Jaroslav Fabian, and S. Das Sarma
    Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 323 (2004).
  3. Lecture notes and literature on 2D materials, Topological insulators and Spintronics

Examination including compulsory elements

Written exam. Grading according to: U (Fail), 3, 4, 5.

Published: Wed 26 Feb 2020.