Aim of the course is to present the theoretical foundations of electronic properties of materials, including polymeric and organic semiconductors, with particular emphasis on applications in the area of ICTs. This course plays a critical role in the development of an Engineer expert in Nanotechnologies, because it provides the elements for understanding the properties of semiconductors - both bulk and nanostructured - and prepares students for courses in quantum electronics.

Knowledge of elements of crystal structure.
Knowledge of alternative approaches to the theoretical determination of the energy bands in semiconductors.
Knowledge of scattering mechanisms in semiclassical theory of charge transport.
Knowledge of the electronic and transport properties of polymeric and organic materials.
Ability to use the empirical pseudopotential method to compute the electronic structure of crystalline semiconductors.
Ability to solve the Boltzmann transport equation by means of a Monte Carlo particle-based approach.
Ability to implement an analytic-band Monte Carlo transport simulation code in Matlab.
Ability to understand and analyze/design polymeric and organic (opto)electronic devices.

Basics of quantum mechanics and solid-state physics.
Operating principles of the most important electronic semiconductor devices.
Fundamentals of numerical analysis.
Fundamentals of Matlab programming.

1. Review of the crystal, electronic and transport properties of semiconductor materials and their alloys and heterostructures. Introduction to the empirical and ab initio approaches to the computation of the electronic structure of semiconductors. Details on the use of the empirical pseudopotential method for the approximation of the electronic structure of crystalline semiconductors (1 ECTS)
2. Scattering theory: impurity scattering, carrier-phonon scattering, impact ionization scattering, radiative processes. Carrier transport in semiconductors, the Boltzmann transport equation, particle-based device simulation methods, the Monte Carlo approach (3 ECTS)
3. Electronic properties of amorphous and crystalline polymers, conjugated polymers, organic conductors and semiconductors. Transport properties of organic semiconductors. Introduction to organic and polymeric based electronic devices. Inkjet printing technology of polymers (2 ECTS).

The theory presented in class will be further illustrated through two numerical laboratories: (a) calculation of the electronic structure of crystalline semiconductor compounds and alloys with the empirical pseudopotential method; (b) development of a Monte Carlo simulation code for the study of electronic transport in semiconductors. Each laboratory will be organized in several sessions; the lab reports and the numerical codes written by the students will be discussed during the oral exam.

Detailed week-by-week syllabus, lecture notes, and laboratory/homework assignments will be posted on the course website. Supplementary texts include:

M. Fischetti and W. G. Vandenberghe, Advanced Physics of Electron Transport in Semiconductors and Nanostructures, Springer 2016.
C. Jacoboni and P. Lugli, The Monte Carlo Method for Semiconductor Device Simulation, ser. Computational Microelectronics, Springer 1989.
D. Vasileska, S. M. Goodnick, and G. Klimeck, Computational Electronics. Semiclassical and Quantum Device Modeling and Simulation, CRC Press 2010.
Ioannis Kymissis, Organic Field Effect Transistors: Theory, Fabrication and Characterization, Springer 2009.

A closed-book written test (1h30’) focused on organic semiconductors will be followed by an oral discussion (30’) about electronic structure and transport properties of semiconductor materials, focused on the reports of the numerical laboratories. The grading will take into account the completeness/correctness of the written test, the quality of the lab reports, and the ability of the student to discuss her/his approach to the numerical laboratories.