Normally Offered:

Each Fall

Campus/Online:

On-campus and online

Catalog Description:

This course is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in nanoscale electronic devices, spanning both theoretical understanding and experimental relevance. It addresses the physical regimes encountered when device dimensions shrink to the nanometer scale-regimes in which continuum theory, infinitely periodic systems, closed system assumptions, and near equilibrium carrier distributions are no longer adequate. The course focuses on the emergence of quantized states and transport behavior in realistic nano scaled devices, emphasizing physical intuition over formalism and placing nanoscale device operation in a broader experimental and technological context.

Learning Outcomes

A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated an ability to:

• Explain the difference between open vs closed systems and the concept of non-equilibrium transport
• Interpret tunneling and resonance tunneling behavior
• Interpret parabolic vs full band structure effects in realistic devices
• Interpret and diagnose scattering effects in RTDs
• Critique modeling assumptions
• Design a modeling plan for a nanoelectronic device
• Explain the limits of physical device scaling due to atomistic device scales and that impact on future markets
• Work on a nanoelectronic device design within a team

Assessment Method:

Exams, projects (5/2026)