Electronic structure of atoms, chemical bonding and local atomic configurations. Short and long range order. Crystallographic structures. Geometry of ideal crystals. Fundamentals of the group theory. Interaction of waves with condensed matter. Experimental determination of atomic structure. Defects in crystalline and amorphous solids. Thermal vibrations.
Fundamentals of the band theory. Dynamics of electrons and holes in crystals. Effective mass method. Equilibrium statistics of electrons and holes. Transport in homogeneous and inhomogeneous semiconductor systems. Metal-semiconductor contact and p-n-junction. Screening. Recombination processes and quasi-equilibrium. Ambipolar diffusion. Injection of minority charge carriers. Heterojunctions, surface phenomena. Quantum size effects and low-dimensional semiconductor systems.
Use of microprocessor-based data acquisition systems in experimental solid state physics. Functioning, programming and general principles of design of different parts of microcomputers (CPU, memory, serial and parallel interfaces, interrupt system, DMA). Intel 8080-based systems. Various methods of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion.
The course deals with the main physical principles of functioning and design of various semiconductor devices. These include p-n-junctions, metal-semiconductor (Schottky) barriers, heterojunctions; bipolar and field effect transistors; microwave devices - impact avalanche and barrier-injection transit-time devices, transferred electron (Gunn) devices; charge transfer devices; optoelectronic devices - light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers, photodetectors and solar cells; nuclear radiation detectors.
Theory of chemical bonding and fundamentals of semiconductor phase formation. Types of equilibrium phase diagrams in semiconductor systems and elements of the theory of phase formation. Main methods of growth of bulk single crystal, thin epitaxial films and superlattices of IV, III-V, II-VI and IV-VI semiconductors. Influence of defects and impurities on the properties of semiconductors. Techniques of semiconductor doping and methods of semiconductor parameters control.
Description of electron transport phenomena in semiconductors based on the solution of the kinetic equation. Scattering mechanisms, optical properties, hot electron problems, electrical instabilities, and recombination mechanisms. Justification of the band theory and some many-particle problems beyond its scope.
Absorption, reflection, refraction, radiation and scattering of light in semiconductors. Quantum theory of these phenomena. Experimental studies of energy spectra of various semiconductors by optical methods. Radiative recombination and stimulated emission in semiconductors; light-emitting diodes and injection lasers. Optical spectra as a source of information on lattice vibrations and impurities in semiconductors.
Intrinsic and impurity photoconductivity of semiconductors with several local states in the forbidden band. Photoconductivity of heavily doped and compensated semiconductors at low and high excitation levels. Photoelectric effects related to optically-induced charge redistribution between local levels. Effects of carrier photo-heating and the photoelectric methods of determination of semiconductor parameters.
Physical properties of structures with atomic scale dimensions - quantum wells, wires and dots, multiple quantum wells and superlattices. Energy spectra, optical and electrical phenomena in two-dimensional structures.
Interaction of lasers with semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures with quantum confinement. Physical processes leading to "classical" nonlinearities (arising from electron polarization) and strong dynamic nonlinearities (related to resonant excitation of semiconductors). Optical bistability in semiconductor structures and the possibility of optical transistor fabrication.
Effects of "hard" radiations (fast electrons, other charged particles, neutrons and gamma-radiation) on the lattice and electronic sub-system of semiconductors.
Interaction of electron beam with condensed matter. Penetration depth distribution of nonequilibrium charge carriers. Experimental equipment for cathodoluminescence studies. Cathodoluminescence studies as a source of information on radiation recombination mechanisms and on the energy spectra of semiconductors.
Basic experimental facts and effects of random field on the properties of disordered semiconductors. Introduction to the methods of calculation of the electronic density of states. Optical and transport phenomena (band and hopping conduction).
Technology, structural, basic electrical, photoelectric and optical properties of amorphous hydrogenated semiconductors. Experimental methods of the investigation of amorphous materials.