Customer Reviews

Physics of Semiconductor Devices

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Shur's book tends to present subjects more in-depth than most device physics texts. For example, he will point out (as in van der Ziel's older texts) that the generation rate in a diode space charge region is not uniform, and so when he models things like the space charge region ("n=2") dark current density contribution of diode leakage current, his expressions will be a little more complex than the standard "q ni w / tau" type given in most texts. As another example, instead of just giving plots on how mobility varies with doping, he derives the ionized impurity scattering models that explain this effect, as well as various phonon scattering mechanisms, etc. These points are best appreciated in a second course on semiconductor devices more than on the first go-around. I think his treatment of basic semiconductor physics is very good and is oriented towards the device engineer. I think his development of microwave type devices and effects is considerably more in depth than for optical devices. However, even the minimalist optical device chapter is still pretty reasonable for a textbook, I just think it is at a lower level than his other parts of the book.

certainly not meant for an introductory course but this book is just terrible in its explanations or lack thereof. i always had to look up the same information in other books or schools that post their material online. i'm giving this book 2 stars instead of one b/c i've had even worse textbooks.

I give a thumbs down to this text. Its very hard to read and not laid out well. The sections are not clearly outlined and important formulas not highlighted. There are also numerous discrepencies in the subject matter. All in all, it left me more confused than anything when I was reading it. Unfortunately it was picked by our professor for a graduate level solid state physics class and he admitted that he didnt go through it thoroughly when he picked it.