| This text is intended to teach the fundamentals of physics to computer scientists, electrical engineers, and others interested in electronics. The presentation is thus directed toward understanding the fundamental physics of how a computer works, while still providing a broad and effective one-year introduction to classical and modern physics. The first half of the book includes many of the topics of a standard introductory physics course, but with the selection and presentation tailored to be of use in the second half, which develops the physics of semiconductor devices. This second part covers the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, solid-state physics, crystal structure, semiconductor devices, and logic circuits. The mathematical complexities are alleviated by intuitive physical arguments. Students are encouraged to use their own programming skills to solve problems. Some knowledge of calculus is a prerequisite, and the second part can serve by itself as an introduction to the physics of electronic materials and devices for students who have had a standard two-semester introductory physics course. In this second edition, the material on electronic devices has been updated and the coverage of carrier transport, operation of bipolar transistors and MOSFETs, and fabrication of integrated circuits has been expanded. New material includes descriptions of the fundamentals of solar cells, dynamic random-access memories, charged-coupled-device imaging arrays, and of such compound semiconductor devices as light-emitting diodes and heterostructure lasers. |
