Physics of Electronic Materials

Book excerpt: Adopting a uniquely pedagogical approach, this comprehensive textbook on the quantum mechanics of semiconductor materials and devices focuses on the materials, components and devices themselves whilst incorporating a substantial amount of fundamental physics related to condensed matter theory and quantum mechanics. Written primarily for advanced undergraduate students in physics and engineering, this book can also be used as a supporting text for introductory quantum mechanics courses, and will be of interest to anyone interested in how electronic devices function at a fundamental level. Complete with numerous exercises, and with all the necessary mathematics and physics included in appendices, this book guides the reader seamlessly through the principles of quantum mechanics and the quantum theory of metals and semiconductors, before describing in detail how devices are exploited within electric circuits and in the hardware of computers, for example as amplifiers, switches and transistors.