Unique: 17000 EE 396K-23: Semiconductor Heterostructures Spring 2020

Instructor: Ed Yu URL: UT Austin Canvas web site

MER 1.206M, +1.512.232.5167 (Announcements, problem sets, handouts,
EER 3.802 etc.)
ety@ece.utexas.edu

Lectures: MW 3:00–4:30PM Office hours: MW 2:00-2:45PM and 4:30-5:30PM,

ECJ 1.306 EER 3.802
or by appointment at EER or MER

Course Description:
EE 396K-23: Semiconductor Heterostructures will provide an in-depth, graduate-level treatment of the
following topics:
• Quantum-mechanical analysis of electronic structure in solid-state materials and
semiconductor heterostructures
• Electronic and optical properties of low-dimensional and quantum-confined systems
• Crystal structure and symmetry considerations
• Introduction to nitride semiconductors and heterostructures
• Thermal and energy transport behavior (if time permits)

Prerequisite: familiarity with semiconductor physics and devices at the level of EE 339 or equivalent. For
additional details please see the course handout on helpful Prerequisite Knowledge.

Required Text: none (references will be cited during lectures)

Supplementary References:
J. H. Davies, The Physics of Low-Dimensional Semiconductors (Cambridge, 1998).
S. M. Girvin and K. Yang, Modern Condensed Matter Physics (Cambridge, 2019).
C. Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics 8th Edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).
H. Kroemer, Quantum Mechanics (Prentice Hall, 1994).
D. Vanderbilt, Berry Phases in Electronic Structure Theory (Cambridge, 2018).
C. Weisbuch and B. Vinter, Quantum Semiconductor Structures (Academic Press, 1991).
P. Y. Yu and M. Cardona, Fundamentals of Semiconductors, Third Edition (Springer-Verlag, 2001).
J. M. Ziman, Principles of the Theory of Solids, Second Edition (Cambridge, 1972)

Grading: Problem sets 25% approximately biweekly

Midterm 1 25% 3:00-4:15PM, in class, Monday 03/09/2020 (tentative)
Midterm 2 25% 3:00-4:15PM, in class, Wednesday 04/22/2020 (tentative)
Research paper 25% due 5:00PM Friday 05/08/2020

Policy on collaboration: Discussion of course material and homework problems is permitted (and
encouraged!). However, each student should work through the homework
problems (and write up his or her solutions) independently. For additional
details please see the section of this syllabus on Policy on Academic Integrity.

The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for
qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of Services for Students with
Disabilities (SSD).
Course Topics:

1. Electronic and optical properties of semiconductors

Methods for band structure calculation: model potentials, tight binding, and k.p theory
Spin-dependent band structure
Geometric/topological effects
Electron dynamics and envelope function formalism
Dielectric response functions, Kramers-Kronig relations, and optical properties

2. Structural and mechanical properties of crystalline materials

Crystal symmetry
Vibrational properties, phonons, strain and piezoelectric effects

3. Basic properties of semiconductor heterojunctions

Band alignments and offsets
Physics of lattice-mismatched heterojunctions: structure and electronic properties
Quantum-confined levels and density of states
Quantum wells, superlattices, 2DEG, and other low-dimensional structures
Optical properties of quantum-confined structures

4. III-Nitride and related semiconductor materials

Consequences of wurtzite crystal structure
Spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in wurtzite semiconductor heterostructures

5. Thermal and energy transport (if time permits)

Phonons and thermal conductivity
Thermoelectric phenomena
Effects in low-dimensional structures
Course Policy on Academic Integrity:
Ethics and integrity in both academic and professional affairs should be part of your education at UT
Austin. Academic integrity is a serious matter and will be treated as such in EE 396K-23. My hope is that
this will be beneficial to your education both technically and in a much broader sense.
While I am confident that the large majority of students will naturally perform in accordance with the
university’s guidelines and regulations regarding academic integrity, I provide below an explicit statement
of course policy in this regard.
Problem Sets:
EE 396K-23 course policy is that discussion of course material, including homework problems, is allowed
and indeed encouraged. However, each student should work through assigned homework problems and
write up his or her solutions independently. Problem-solving is an extremely useful skill in itself, and in
addition is the only really effective way to learn the material!
Specifically, each student is responsible for working out and writing up his or her own solutions to each
problem set. Discussion of the course material and problems is encouraged, but practices such allowing a
classmate to copy your homework solutions, or a group working out a problem solution together which
everyone then copies down and turns in, are forbidden. Students caught violating course policy on problem
sets will receive a warning possibly followed by a grading penalty and further disciplinary action, in
accordance with university policy.
Examinations:
In general you will be allowed to use your class notes, problem sets and problem set solutions, a calculator,
writing implements and erasers, and blue books during exams. No other materials will be allowed. Students
who are caught using unauthorized materials during an exam, copying from a classmate on exams,
continuing to work on an exam after time has been called, or violating exam or course rules in some other
manner are likely, at a minimum, to receive a score of zero on that exam and may be subject to further
disciplinary action, again in accordance with university policy.
For further information:
Students with questions about course policy on academic integrity should consult the course instructor.
Additional information concerning UT Austin’s policy on academic integrity is posted on the UT Austin
web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/conduct/.