Resistance, Resistivity, Conductivity, and Integrated Circuit Fabrication

  • Course Overview & Upcoming Topics:
    • Today's lecture focuses on resistance, resistivity, conductivity, and the integrated circuit fabrication process.
    • Discussion groups will tackle tricky problems related to these concepts.
    • Next week includes guest lectures, including Dr. Chakuri from Construction Management, who researches concrete, highlighting its fascinating properties like Roman concrete strengthening in saltwater, a chemistry only understood recently.
  • Recap of Core Material Science Concepts:
    • Material science and engineering is classified by material types or by the scientific approach of structure, processing, and performance.
    • Examples: Polymers in whitewater kayaks, toy dinosaurs, and single-use plastic bottles illustrate these classifications.
    • Previous topics covered chemical nature, bonding types (metallic, ionic, covalent, van der Waals).
  • Electronics and Doping:
    • The ability to engineer material conductivity is crucial for devices like transistors, LEDs, solar cells, and rectifiers.
    • Computer chips are made of silicon, a Group IV element with four valence electrons.
    • Doping: Replacing silicon atoms with Group V atoms (e.g., phosphorus) adds an extra electron, creating N-type semiconductors. Replacing with Group III atoms (e.g., boron) creates a missing electron (a