ECE 49500 - Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics

Course Details

Lecture Hours: 3 Credits: 3

Counts as:

Experimental Course Offered:

Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010

Requisites:

Prerequisites: MA 266 & MA 265 or MA 262 Concurrent Prerequisites: ECE 305

Catalog Description:

The development of "nanotechnology" has made it possible to engineer materials and devices on a length scale as small as several nanometers (atomic distances are ~ 0.1nm). The properties of such "nanostructures" cannot be described in terms of macroscopic parameters like mobility or diffusion coefficient and a microscopic or atomistic viewpoint is called for. The purpose of this course is to convey the conceptual framework that underlies this microscopic viewpoint using examples related to the emerging field of nanoelectronics.

Course Objectives:

To convey the basic concepts of nanoelectronics to electrical engineering students with no background in quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics.

Required Text(s):

  1. Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor , S. Datta , Cambridge University Press , 2005 , ISBN No. 0521631459

Recommended Text(s):

Learning Outcomes:

  1. ability to perform simple analysis of nanoelectronic devices. [None]
  2. ability to understand energy level diagrams in nanostructured materials. [None]
  3. ability to perform quantitative analysis of nanoelectronic devices. [None]

Lecture Outline:

Week(s) Topic
1-5 An atomistic view of electrical resistance, Schrodinger equation, Hydrogen atom, Method of finite differences, Self-consistent field/Coulomb blockade, One-electron versus the many-electron picture
6-10 Basis functions, Converting a differential equation to a matrix equation, Bandstructure, Toy examples, general result, common semiconductors, Subbands, Quantum wells, wires, dots and nanotubes
11-14 Density of states, minimum resistance of a quantum wire, quantum capacitance, Current-voltage characteristics, Local density of states, Transmission, Atom to transistor: How the microscopic world evolves into the macroscopic one.
15 New directions in nanoelectronics

Assessment Method:

Exams