Introducing the device modeling procedure to electrical engineering students

This paper presents the contents of a lecture for enhancing the interest of electrical engineering students in semiconductor device modeling and providing a deep appreciation of the conflicting requirements for an ideal model, of the sequence and interconnectivity of steps in the modeling procedure, and of the types of models existing in modern times. The lecture can be included in courses on semiconductor devices or device modeling. The lecture uses a resistor with 3-D effects and much simpler physics than a p-n junction for illustration, and coins mnemonics for key aspects. Objective assessment data confirm the need and efficacy of the proposed lecture. The work of this paper shows how proper introduction of a topic with carefully chosen illustrations and mnemonics can improve the teaching/learning process and how such improvements can be assessed. © 2007 IEEE.