Functional materials 1

This unit will focus on the ‘smart’ functional roles of the materials in devices which depend on their electrical and optical properties. Examples of such devices covered are pn junction rectifiers, bipolar junction transistors, field-effect transistors (FET), dynamic random access memories (DRAM), solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LED), optical fibres and the Peltier cooler. The functional materials will be studied at the microscopic (atomic and/or molecular) level in order to gain an understanding of the device operation. The particular focus of this unit is on the electronic properties of materials (metals, semiconductors and insulators) based on their energy band structures. The classical and wave-mechanical models of metals are introduced along with the Fermi energy, density of states, forbidden band and Brillouin zones, to describe the behaviour of free electrons in solids. Semiconductor fabrication processes such as single crystal growth, film deposition and microlithography will also be introduced briefly.