ECE 730 Topic 28 - Physics of Nanoscale Devices
INSTRUCTOR
Professor
Christopher
Wilson
Office
Hours:
by
appointment
(via
email)
LECTURE HOURS
To be determined
DESCRIPTION
As the size of electronic devices has shrunk in the last decades, coherent quantum effects have become increasingly important to their behavior. While sometimes a nuisance for traditional electronics, these effects are now being exploited by a new generation of nanoscale devices that promise enhanced performance and even radically new capabilities. This course gives an overview of the fundamental physics of these devices, often referred to as mesoscopic physics, with an emphasis on illustrating the physical consequences of quantum mechanics through the novel characteristics and performance of nanoscale devices.
COURSE/TEACHING OBJECTIVES
This course will help students with a basic background in solid state or device physics to:
- deepen their understanding of how quantum effects can influence and define device performance
- gain an overview of existing nanoscale devices as a foundation for future research
- broaden their understanding of mesoscopic physics
PREREQUISITE
Quantum mechanics, basic solid state or device physics, linear algebra
SYLLABUS
-
Fundamentals
of
mesoscopic
electron
transport
(6
hours)
Review of classical transport; Coherent and ballistic transport; Tunneling; Landauer-Buttiker formalism; 2D and 1D transport; Conductance quantization; Aharonov-Bohm effect; Weak localization and conductance fluctuations; Mesoscopic noise -
Charging
effects
and
single
electronics
(6
hours)
Coulomb blockade; Single-electron box; single-electron transistor; RF-SET; Orthodox theory -
Low-dimensional
systems
(6
hours)
2D electron gas; Quantum Hall effect; Nanowires, nanotubes and 1D transport; Quantum point contacts; quantum dots -
Mesoscopic
Superconductivity
(6
hours)
Superconducting basics; Cooper-pairs and quasiparticles; Josephson junctions; Flux quantization and SQUIDS; single-cooper box -
Solid-State
Qubits
(6
hours)
Superconducting qubits; Semiconductor qubits; Circuit quantum electrodynamics -
Special
Topics
(6
hours)
Students will give presentations on topics of interest to themselves drawn from current literature
TEXTBOOK
There will be no required textbook
GENERAL REFERENCES
- Electronic Transport in Mesoscopic Systems, Supriyo Datta, Cambridge University Press (1997)
- Quantum transport, Y. V. Nazarov et Y. M. Blanter. Cambrirdge University Press, (2009).
- Introduction to mesoscopic physics 2nd Edition, ,Y. Imry, Oxford University Press (2002).
MARKING SCHEME
- Homework: 10%
- Oral presentation: 15%
- Term Project: 25%
- Final Exam: 50%