Basics of Microelectronics (GreenChips-EDU)

'Basics of Microelectronics' in an online course, developed by TU Graz in Austria and running under the framework of the GreenChips-EDU project. 

The GreenChips-EDU project is funded by the DIGITAL Europe Programme of the European Union) and aims to attract engineering talents with a focus in "green semiconductors", designed with sustainability in mind. The project seeks to attract engineering talents by aligning education with sustainability goals and ideas. The goal is to empower students to contribute to a green and circular economy.

About this course 

This course provides a brief, informative introduction to microelectronics. It covers a large selection of subjects, from semiconductor physics, through CMOS technologies, fabrication of integrated circuits, scaling issues as well as history of microelectronics. The most emphasised topics are the operation and biasing of the MOSFET transistor, parasitic devices and scaling trends. With regard to semiconductor physics and devices, complex phenomena are explained in an intuitive way.

The course takes a total of 15 hours to complete and is designed for bachelor-level students with a good knowledge of basic concepts in electrical engineering. 

Learning outcomes 

By the end of this course, participants will: 

• Gain an improved understanding of semiconductor physics - from basic phenomena to active devices.
• Get to know semiconductor technologies and techniques and be introduced to scaling issues in fabrication and the devices that can be used to overcome these challenges.
• Learn about the main players in the development of the microelectronics branch of electrical engineering.
• Learn to identify and understand: issues in scaled CMOS processing; parasitic devices and safe biasing of semiconductor devices;
• Recognise the limitations of used technology and reasoning behind.
• Be able to advise on device selection for a specific application – temperature, operating voltages, parasitic tolerance, etc. 

Go to the course page of "Basics of Microelectronics" on TU Graz's website for more information and to access the course.