ECE 50653 - Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics

Note:

Note: This course is currently running as three 5-week modules: ECE 50631: Fundamentals of Current Flow, ECE 50632: Introduction to Quantum Transport and ECE 50633: Boltzmann Law: Physics to Machine Learning. BSEE students must take all three for them to count toward an Advanced Selective course in place of ECE 30500.

Course Details

Lecture Hours: 3 Credits: 3

Counts as:

  • EE Advanced Selective
  • CMPE Special Content Selective

Normally Offered:

Each Fall

Requisites:

MA 26600 & MA 26500 or MA 26200

Requisites by Topic:

Familiarity with matrix algebra, MATLAB, Elementary differential equations.

Catalog Description:

The modern smartphone is enabled by a billion-plus nano-transistors, each having an active region that is barely a few hundred atoms long. Interestingly the same amazing technology has also led to a deeper understanding of the nature of current flow on an atomic scale. The aim of this course is to make the fundamentals of nanoelectronics accessible to anyone in any branch of science or engineering, assuming very little background beyond linear algebra and differential equations, although we will be discussing advanced concepts in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics that should be of interest even to specialists. We first introduce a new perspective connecting the quantized conductance of short ballistic conductors to the familiar Ohm???s law of long diffusive conductors, along with a brief description of the modern nano-transistor. We then address fundamental conceptual issues related to the meaning of resistance on an atomic scale, the interconversion of electricity and heat, the second law of thermodynamics and the fuel value of information. Finally we introduce the concepts of quantum transport as applied to modern nanoscale electronic devices.

Required Text(s):

  1. Lessons from Nanoelectronics , S. Datta , World Scientific , 2012 , ISBN No. 978-981-4335-29-4

Recommended Text(s):

  1. MatLab: Student Version , Current Edition Edition , The MathWorks, Inc.
  2. Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor , S. Datta , Cambridge University Press , 2005 , ISBN No. 0-521-63145-9

Learning Outcomes:

A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated:
  1. Ability to perform semiclassical analysis of charge flow in nanoelectronic devices. [1,2]
  2. Ability to perform semiclassical analysis of the interconversion of heat and electricity in nanoelectronic devices. [1,2]
  3. Ability to perform quantum analysis of nanoelectronic devices. [1,2]

Lecture Outline:

Week(s) Major Topics
1-2 The new Ohm's law From Ballistic to diffusive conductors
3-4 Conductance quantization, density of states and density of modes, the nanotransistor
5-6 What and where is the resistance?
7-9 Thermoelectricity, Second Law, fuel value of information
10-11 Bandstructure
12-14 Quantum transport: NEGF
15 Future Directions

Engineering Design Content:

  • Analysis

Assessment Method:

Seven Exams (as indicated) and a Term Paper