Semiconductor Physics And Devices (Hardcover)

by Donald Neamen (Author) "This text deals with the electrical properties and characteristics of semiconductor materials and devices..." (more)
Key Phrases: minority carrier hole concentration, ambipolar transport equation, minority carrier electron concentration, New York, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Neamen's Semiconductor Physics and Devices, Third Edition. deals with the electrical properties and characteristics of semiconductor materials and devices. The goal of this book is to bring together quantum mechanics, the quantum theory of solids, semiconductor material physics, and semiconductor device physics in a clear and understandable way.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 3 edition (August 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072321075
• ISBN-13: 978-0072321074
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #424,158 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #93 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Semiconductors

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Third semester of crap and counting..., January 30, 2004

By A Customer

I had the misfortune of using his Electronic Circuit Analysis book my sophomore year. I'm impressed - he's actually managed to write a book that is more worthless! The examples are poor and few and definitions of symbols and constants was almost nonexistent. Get yourself some note cards or you're going to lose hours of your life flipping through this waste of paper.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the rest, April 7, 2007

By	ericatdallas "ericatdallas" (Dallas, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

I own five different books on semiconductor physics and this text is by far the best. I've also references a sixth book.

I understand the other reviewers complaints but I think this is a weakness of all semiconductor books or proof of just how complicated device physics can get.

It helps to have an instructor step you through a lot of the derivations to make you understand the equations.

I like this book because it explains concepts very well. Making use of the equations and knowing when to make assumptions just comes with practice.

I've found a few mistakes but far fewer than some of the other books I've seen.

My advice to students studying semiconductors is to go to the library and get as many books as you can.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre book; needs major overhaul, March 31, 2006

By	Jonathan Hopfenblatt "J. Hopfenblatt" (Missouri) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Assuming you have already read the previous (rather low) reviews on here, my own review may seem like overkill, but I feel that I must express just how bad Neamen's book is at explaining the material.

Most other reviewers have already covered the important points, so I'll just develop on two that I find particularly unsettling (after wasting several hours trying to see how the author arrived at the solution for ONE problem in his book): How is anyone supposed to figure out the many assumptions this guy makes when he makes no mention of them anywhere else? Also, how is anyone supposed to know what equations to use in what problems?

So far I've found that all the answers in the back of the book have been correct, however the problem is that the reader has to first figure out what equation(s) to use, which is why I'd imagine that many readers believe the answers to be incorrect. In terms of what the author explains, there are (presumably) several ways of obtaining the same answer, but for some reason this is not the case, given that your answer will often be different depending on what equation you use. Assuming the author is even correct in using the formulas he uses, he offers no explanation as to why one equation should be used in one situation but not in another.

Also, this book makes entirely too many assumptions and offers no explanation as to where they come from. Case in point: Problem 1 of Chapter 5 asks the reader to determine the drift current density in a semiconductor material under a certain set of conditions. Well, this is all fine and dandy, except for the fact that the author provides an in-book example IDENTICAL to the problem in which the answer is DIFFERENT. So why do the example and problem answers differ? Because Neamen (in the problem)apparently arbitrarily assumed a different value for electron mobility in said semiconductor material, yet he did not not explain why this different value was assumed in the first place, nor did he offer any clear explanation as to how to determine the supposedly correct electron mobility.

In summary, this book would be somewhat decent if the author spent more time explaining the material more clearly. As it stands, there are simply too many assumptions made and too few explanations for them, making this book a very poor source of information.