Abstract:

Teaching semiconductor physics to engineering students at the undergraduate level has always been a bit of a challenge, due to the rather limited knowledge on quantum physics that students majoring on engineering usually have. Nevertheless, the subject is relevant in any program of electrical engineering, simply because semiconductor devices are the building blocks of modern electronic technology. The semiconductor industry is currently experiencing a worldwide boom. Mexico’s geographical location, along with its thriving manufacturing industry and free trade agreements, make it a key player in the nearshoring economic strategy of North America, recently launched to promote and drive a massive production of semiconductor chips in the region. As a contribution to this trend at the educational level, the author of this paper and coworkers started the construction of a learning resource center that will provide students and instructors with freely accessible online tools, new and original. The paper presents the first achievements of the project, including an e-book on semiconductor physics, written with the specific purpose of facilitating the understanding and learning of the subject, by the combined use of innovative and traditional teaching strategies and resources. The resources will serve both students enrolled in undergraduate courses, and professional engineers working on areas related to the semiconductor industry who take the continuing education courses offered by the University. The didactic strategy used in the e-book aims to provide the student with both theoretical knowledge and practical quantitative skills on semiconductor physics at an introductory level, based on a semiquantitative understanding of two fundamental quantum physics concepts: energy quantization and the wave-particle nature of matter. This approach is original to some extent: it has been tailored for the kind of users that it is intended for. But it has been tested. It has been used extensively in the regular courses on the subject that the author has taught for years at the school of engineering. Student learning achievements have been largely assessed and the encouraging results are discussed in some detail. The developments reported are the results of a project (PE109422) funded by PAPIME, a program of the author’s academic institution, aimed at promoting innovation and enhancement of higher education.

Keywords:

Semiconductor physics, engineering education, semiconductor industry.