1. Overview of Course
Goal: Primarily to develop techniques and intuition for evaluating and
understanding digital (and analog) circuits, and especially FETs
Circuit components:
R, C, L – structure,
characterization, I-V,
energy storage/dissipation
Circuit analysis:
Laws: Ohm’s, KVL, KCL
Steady excitation (and a touch of
AC excitation  phasor I and V
amplitude only, impedance instead
of just resistance):
 Equivalent circuits (series/
parallel, Thevenin, Norton)
 Superposition for linear circuits
 Nodal analysis
 Mesh analysis

2. First-order transient excitation/analysis:
 esp. RC as those time constants
will determine propagation delay
of digital circuits
Semiconductors (basis of electronic revolution):
 fundamental properties: intrinsic vs. extrinsic = doped,
carrier type, carrier concentration, m, r, s; velocity saturation,
etc.
 devices: pn-diodes (many types), FETs (n-channel, p-channel,
CMOS); depletion regions, threshold voltage, nonlinearity, etc.
Useful circuits:
amplifiers: op-amp (negative feedback), MOSFETs; rectifiers;
electronically controlled switches (MOSFETs); logic gates;
combinatorial logic (sum-of-products, Karnaugh maps), sequential
logic, memories, registers, etc.

3. MOSFET Operating principles:
 ID (VDS, VGS); role of m, Cox, L, W, VT; different operating regions,
etc.
Design/fabrication
 Fabrication processes: oxidation, photolithography, etching,
ion implantation, CVD, sputtering, CMP, etc.
 Circuit isolation, silicon-on-insulator
 Limits (propagation delay due to RC transient, lithography, power,
size, etc.)
Characterization
 Gain; noise margins, inverter operation
 Propagation delay (design for balanced operation LH and HL)
 Power consumption: Power dissipated proportional to CVDS2f
 Fan-out, wiring effects