PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRONICS

Course Description

The course addresses basic physical concepts of electronic devices, placing emphasis on the physics of semiconductor devices. The course highlights the fundamental building block of all semiconductor devices, i.e., pn-junction and its application in the understanding of diodes and transistors. Finally, the course introduces basic techniques in designing circuits using semiconductor devices.

Course objectives

The objectives of this course are:

• To understand the properties of semiconductors

• To understand electronic conduction in solids

• To understand the physics and operation principles of diodes and transistors

• To learn transistor equivalent circuits

• Ability to analyze and design single-stage amplifiers

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students should be able to:

• Describe how impurities can change electron and hole densities in semiconductors and how this leads to precise and temperature stable conductivity.

• How internal potential barriers can be created in semiconductor structures and how this an lead directly to diodes and transistors

• Understand the construction and operation of diodes and bipolar junction transistors (BJTs).

• Describe the principles of field effect transistors (FET) and how they differ from BJTs).

• Demonstrate understanding of basic transistor amplifier circuits.