ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIB - 2012/2013

Module 4C3 - Electrical and Nano Materials

AIMS

To introduce undergraduates to a range of modern electrical materials and devices emphasising their processing, properties and limitations. The course will concentrate on materials technology of specific relevance to the electronics industry.

LECTURE SYLLABUS

Bulk Materials, Properties and Applications (6L, Professor D.A. Cardwell)

• Magnetic fields in materials (2L);
• Bulk superconductors (1.5L);
• Pyroelectrics and their application as i.r. sensors (1.5L);
• Piezoelectrics (1L);

Thin Film Technology (4L, Dr. S. Hofmann)

• Vacuum Science and Technology (1L);  (kinetic theory of gases,vacuum requirements/systems)
• Deposition Techniques (1.5L) (evaporation, MBE, sputtering,CVD, ALD)
• Thin Film and nano-metrology (1.5L); (scanning/transmission EM,XRD, scanning probe techniques,XPS, RBS, SIMS).

Microcircuits (6L, Professor J. Robertson)

• Materials issues in devices (2L); (transistors, contacts, interconnects);
• Circuit limitations (1.5L); (electromigration and device miniaturisation);
• Advanced materials (2.5L); (semiconducting and display devices).

OBJECTIVES

On completion of the module students should:

• Appreciate the range and diversity of modern electronic materials;
• Understand a variety of bulk and thin film process requirements of these materials;
• Identify specific materials for specific electrical/electronic/magnet applications;
• Appreciate the key properties of electrical materials;
• Recognise the limitations of modern electrical materials for specific applications;
• Be able to apply a range of materials in circuit applications.
• Understand how to control materials properties and microstructure at the nanoscale.

REFERENCES

Please see the Booklist for Group C Courses for references for this module.

Last updated: July 2012