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ECE444

ECE 444 (IC Device Theory and Fabrication) is a 4-credit-hour course EE students can take to fulfill the hardware lab category, and CE can take as a technical elective to count towards the total technical elective hours needed.

Content Covered

  • Introduction
  • Process integration
  • Silicon wafer
  • Oxidation
  • Photolithography
  • Etching processes
  • Junction diffusion
  • Diffusion technology
  • Chemical vapor deposition
  • Ion beam processing
  • Backend processes

This course goes in-depth into how the devices we learn about in ECE340, including MOSFETs, BJTs, and diodes, are manufactured in a fabrication lab like those found in TSMC or Intel. You'll learn how a basic electrical device is physically fabricated from start to finish, meaning you'll start with how the silicon wafer is made, and then learn about all the micro-/nano-processes that are used on top of the wafer to give a device its desired physical properties. You'll learn what processes are used to add each layer for each device, and at the end of the class, you'll see how each layer on top of the original wafer contributes to the workings of the device.

Prerequisites

As mentioned previously, ECE340 is an essential prerequisite to ECE444, as ECE444 goes more in-depth into how the physical properties of the electrical devices you learned about in ECE340 are derived in the laboratory.

When to Take It

Since this course builds on the content taught in ECE340, you should take it as soon as possible after taking ECE340 so the knowledge is fresh in your mind. Also take this as soon as possible if you're looking to eventually work as a process engineer at companies like TSMC, Intel, or even TI.

Course Structure

This course has two separate, independent lecture sections. Each section is graded separately, but the structure and content is mostly the same. There are three lectures a week, with in-class exams every ~2.5 weeks on what was covered in the past few weeks (not cumulative). There are weekly homeworks which usually don't take too long to complete, especially if you find friends to collaborate with.

Much of the course is also lab-based, as it is in the name of the course after all. You'll spend one three-hour session a week in the nanofabrication lab in the MNTL, recording your lab conditions and settings for various equipments used each session in a logsheet each week. In the first few weeks, you spend your lab sessions training and performing one of the three assigned fabrication steps based on your group. You'll also need to take a safety quiz after those few weeks training. You get three attempts to take it, and 100% is the passing score, but if you don't pass, you'll need to write an essay on lab safety to make up for it.

For the first three labs, there are pre-labs you need to turn in regarding info on the fabrication step you're performing for that week. At week 7, there's a lab report you have to turn in analyzing data you've collected on the Schottky diodes you make on your wafer.

Then, near the end of the course, there is a processing lab report which primarily concerns the data you've been inputting into your logsheet each week. And then there's also a final lab report which encapsulates all the data you've collected on the physical devices after the last fabrication step has been performed on them.

At the end of the course is the final exam, which is actually just a lab exam based on everything you've done in the lab. For this exam, it is recommended to go through your past lab reports and the website, so that you are fully familiar with the process performed in the lab.

Instructors

Recently, this course has been taught by Professors Froeter, Lee, and Sievers, all of whom specialize in fabrication processes.

Course Tips

There is no textbook for the class, so regularly attend lecture and take good notes and ask many questions both inside and outside of class.

Always do the assigned weekly homework, and if you can, find some friends to collaborate on the homework with - it helps both you and your friends' understanding of the concepts taught in class.

For the exams, professor Paul Froeter always provides review sessions the week before detailing what kind of topics the exam will cover and maybe even give an example question or two on those topics, so try to attend those if you are in his section.

For the labs, just make sure you're on time to your lab sessions so everyone (including you) can make the most of the time in the lab. Also, don't get discouraged if the equipment stops working and you're not able to finish your wafer - your TA will provide data they collected from when they took the course. Just remember that it's up to you to understand how the data correlates with the expected physical properties of the device.

Life After

Taking this course opens the door to research opportunities, grad school, and jobs. If you enjoyed the labs in ECE444, you'd enjoy working on process engineering and could apply to become a process engineer in a fabrication lab like those found at Intel, AMD, and IBM, or even internationally in TSMC or UMC, Taiwan's semiconductor powerhouses. Recommended future courses are ECE441 - Physics and Modeling of Semiconductor Devices and ECE488 - Compound Semiconductors and Devices.

Infamous Topics

  • Oxidation
  • Photolithography
  • Etching
  • Diffusion

These steps form the foundation of the devices you fabricate in the lab, and are repeated a few times to form the different layers in each device.

Resources