An Introductory Course in Nanoelectronics at the Senior/Graduate Level

This paper describes the rationale, organization and topic coverage for a course introducing seniors and first year graduate students in electrical engineering and related disciplines to the exciting and revolutionary developments occurring in the electronics realm at the nanoscale, i.e. nanoelectronics. Included is a survey and introduction to carbon nanotube based FETs, devices based on electron spin (spintronics), nanowires and nanotransistors, single electron transistors and molecular electronics. Also examined are recent advancements in silicon devices, such as nanoscale and strained MOSFETs, multigate MOSFETs (FinFETs) and compositional grading at the nanoscale in SiGe HBTs. The bandgap engineering of multilayer semiconductor structures at the nanoscale and its use in modern III-V HEMTs, HBTs and quantum structures is also surveyed. Finally, briefly introduced are a variety of new nanoscale fabrication technologies that are emerging, such as micro-contact and dip pen nanolithography, and recently developed nanoscale imaging techniques, such as atomic force microscopy. While the available time in a single quarter or semester course does not permit an in-depth discussion of these topics, the course is intended to acquaint the student with the most recent developments at the forefront of the electronics field, to excite their curiosity and imagination, and to provide the student with a basic understanding of the underlying concepts to enable subsequent study.