Electronics

Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: Salvatore PENNISI

Expected Learning Outcomes

The course aims to provide basic knowledge and skills related to the use of semiconductor devices in CMOS and Bipolar technology in analog and digital circuits and the related analysis and design methodologies.

Knowledge and understanding. The student will deepen the role of electronics in modern applications and in anticipation of future ones. He will know the main circuit configurations that use diodes and transistors used in analog and digital electronics. He/she will know the analysis techniques and the first elements of design. He/she will know the main circuit performance parameters and a simulation and experimental characterization environment.

Applied knowledge and understanding. The student will be able to understand and analyze the performance of the main circuit configurations of analog and digital electronics. He will also be able to choose the most appropriate device and circuit configuration for solving elementary design problems. Finally, thanks to the laboratory activities, the student will improve his or her ability to work in groups and problem-solving.

Making judgments. Theoretical training is accompanied by examples, applications, exercises, both practical and theoretical, which accustom the student to make decisions and to be able to judge and predict the effect of his/her choices.

Communication skills. Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to acquire the ability to convey to his / her interlocutors, in a clear and complete way, the knowledge acquired

Learning skills. Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to rework the knowledge to extend it to situations not explicitly dealt with, also being able to learn independently.

Course Structure

The course includes lectures, numerical exercises, the simulator (CAD), and experimental characterization experiences, aimed at putting into practice, developing and consolidating the theoretical contents, and the analysis and design techniques studied. Seminars will be organized by researchers and designers from companies operating in the microelectronics sector to provide an overview of the state of the art.

A Tutor will help during the lab activities.

The teacher is also available for reception meetings electronically, by appointment

Required Prerequisites

Knowledge of elements of circuit theory (Ohm's law, Thevenin and Norton equivalent generators, Kirchhoff's laws, superposition principle, circuits in sinusoidal regime), of electromagnetism (electric charge, conducting and insulating materials, electromagnetic field), of theory of systems (transfer function in the Laplace variable, Bode diagrams, negative feedback), theory of signals (analog signals and digital signals) and electronic devices (semiconductor materials, diode, bipolar transistor and MOS). In any case, the main concepts of the topics mentioned will be summarized at the beginning of the course and where necessary.

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended as preparatory exercises are carried out for the examination tests and laboratory activities are also carried out.

Detailed Course Content

1. Introduction to Electronics: A brief history of electronics. Classification of Electronic Signals. A/D and D/A Converters. Notational Conventions. Dependent sourced. Important Concepts from Circuit Theory (Kirchhoff’s lows, dividers, Thevenin and Norton Equivalents). Frequency Spectrum of Electronic Signals. Amplifiers. Example: FM receiver

2. Operational Amplifiers: An Example of an Analog Electronic System. Amplification. Voltage Gain, Current Gain and Power Gain. The Decibel Scale. The Differential Amplifier. Differential Amplifier Voltage Transfer Characteristic. Differential Voltage Gain. Differential Amplifier Model. Ideal Operational Amplifier. *Assumptions for Ideal Operational Amplifier. *The Inverting Amplifier. *The Transresistance Amplifier. *The Noninverting Amplifier. *The Unity-Gain Buffer, or Voltage Follower. *The Summing Amplifier. *The Difference Amplifier. An active Low-Pass Filter. An Active High-Pass Filter. *The Integrator. *The Differentiator. Nonidealities: Common mode gain. CMRR. I/O resistances. Offset. Slew rate.

3. Solid-State Electronics. Solid-State Electronic Materials. Covalent Bond Model. Intrinsic carrier concentration. Mass action. *Drift Currents and Mobility in Semiconductors. Velocity Saturation. The resistivity of Intrinsic Silicon. *Impurities in Semiconductors. Electron and Hole Concentrations in Doped Semiconductors. *Diffusion Currents. *Total Current. Energy Band Model.

4. Solid-state Diodes and Diode circuits: Junction diode.The i-v Characteristics of the Diode. *Diode Characteristics Under Reverse, Zero, and Forward Bias. *Reverse Breakdown and Zener Diode. Dynamic Switching Behavior of the Diode. Large signal Model. Diode SPICE Model. *Diode Circuit Analysis. Load-Line Analysis. Analysis Using the Mathematical Model for the Diode (small signal resistance). *Constant Voltage Drop Model. Multiple-Diode Circuits. *Half-Wave Rectifier Circuits with R, C and RC load. Full-Wave Rectifier and Bridge Circuits. *Voltage regulator with Zener diode. Photo Diodes and Photodetectors. Schottky Barrier Diodes. Solar Cells. Light-Emitting Diodes

5. Field-effect Transistors: Characteristics of the MOS Capacitor. Accumulation Region. Depletion Region. Inversion Region. The NMOS Transistor. *Qualitative i-v Behavior of the NMOS Transistor. *Triode Region Characteristics of the NMOS Transistor. On Resistance. Saturation of the i-v Characteristics. *Mathematical Model in the Saturation (Pinch-Off) Region Transconductance. Channel-Length Modulation. Body Effect. PMOS Transistors. MOSFET Circuit Symbols. NMOS Transistor Capacitances in the Triode Region. Capacitances in the Saturation Region. Capacitances in Cutoff. *MOSFET biasing (4 resistors network) and analysis. Modeling in SPICE.

6. Digital circuits: Ideal Logic Gates. *Logic Level Definitions and Noise Margins. Logic Gate Design Goals. Dynamic Response of Logic Gates. *Rise Time and Fall Time. *Propagation Delay. *Power-Delay Product. Review of Boolean Algebra. CMOS logic circuits. *Static characteristics of the CMOS Inverter. CMOS Voltage Transfer Characteristics. *CMOS NOR and NAND Gates. Design of Complex Gates in CMOS. Bistable latch. *SR Flip-Flop. *JK Flip flop. Flip-Flop race condition. The D-Latch Using Transmission Gates. *Master-Slave Flip-Flop. Edge triggered Flip flop. Counters and registers. Random Access Memories (RAMs). *6-T cell. Dynamic RAMs. *1-T cell.

7. Small-signal Modeling and linear amplification: The Transistor as an Amplifier. Coupling and Bypass Capacitors. Circuit Analysis Using dc and ac Equivalent Circuits. *Small-Signal Modeling of the Diode. *Small-Signal Models for Field-Effect Transistors. *Intrinsic Voltage Gain of the MOSFET. *The Common-Source Amplifier (Voltage Gain. I/O resistances). Power dissipation and signal swing. *Amplifiers classification. CS, CD, CG configurations. *CS with resistive degeneration. AC-coupled multi stage amplifiers.

8. Current Mirrors: *DC analysis of MOS current mirrors. *Changing the MOS Mirror Ratio. Cascode current mirror.

9. Frequency response: *Frequency response of Amplifiers, Midband gain, Low and high cutoff frequencies (fL and fH). *Estimation of fL through the short-circuit time constant method for CS, CG, CD amplifier. *High-frequency MOSFET model. *Transition frequency, fT. Channel Length Dependence of fT. Analisi ad alta frequenza dell’amplificatore source comune. *L’effetto Miller. *High-Frequency C-S Amplifier Analysis. The Miller Effect. Common-Emitter and Common-Source Amplifier High-Frequency Response. *Estimation of fH through the open-circuit time constant method for CS.

10. Differential pair. *Differential and common-mode signals. *DC Analysis of BJT emitter coupled pair. *Small signal analysis of differential gain, common-mode gain and CMRR for BJT and MOS differential pair.

11. Computer simulations of electronic circuits: LTSPICE

12. Invited talks: Talks and seminars given by experts from microelectronic industries.

Textbook Information

1. Jaeger-Blalock, Microelectronics Ed. Mc-Graw-Hill, 2018.

2. Sedra - Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, Oxford University Press, 2021.

Author	Title	Publisher	Year	ISBN
Jaeger Blalock	Microelettronica	McGraw-Hill	2018	..

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Introduction to electronics: A brief history of electronics. Classification of electronic signals. A / D and D / A conversion. Conventions on notations. Dependent generators. Review of circuit theory (* Kirchhoff's laws. * Partitors. * Equivalent circuits of Thevenin and Norton). Frequency spectrum of electronic signals. Amplifiers. Example: FM receiver.	1, Cap 1
2	Operational amplifiers: Example of analog electronic system. Amplification. Gains in voltage, current and power. Representation of the gain in decibels. The differential amplifier. Voltage transfer characteristic of the differential amplifier. Differential (voltage) gain. Amplification of signals. Differential amplifier model. The ideal operational amplifier. * Hypothesis for the analysis of the a.o. ideals. * Virtual short circuit
3	* The inverting amplifier. * The transresistance amplifier. * The non-inverting amplifier. * The unity gain amplifier or voltage follower (Buffer). * Summing amplifier. * Subtractor amplifier. Active low-pass and low-high filters. * Supplement. * Derivator. Non-ideality. Common mode gain. CMRR. Input and output resistors. Offset. Band-gain product. Slew rate.
4	Junction diode. * I / V characteristic of the diode. * Diode in reverse bias, null and direct. Temperature coefficient of the diode. * Breakdown and Zener diode. Diode capacitance in forward and reverse bias. Switching diode. Wide signal model. SPICE model of the diode. * Analysis of diode circuits. Graphical analysis with load line. Analysis with the mathematical model of the ideal diode (small signal resistance). * Constant voltage drop analysis. Multiple diode circuits.
5	* Half-wave rectifier with R, C and RC load (capacitive filter). Double half-wave and bridge rectifier. * Parallel voltage regulator. Photodiodes, Schottky diodes, solar cells and light emitting diodes.
6	Field effect transistors: n-channel (NMOS) and p-channel (PMOS) MOSFETs. Circuit symbols of the MOSFET. * Qualitative analysis of the i-v behavior of the MOS transistor. Operating equations of the MOS transistor. Conduction resistance in triode. Transconductance in saturation. Channel length modulation. Body effect. Output resistance.
7	* Biasing of the MOSFET. * Biasing with 4-resistor network. Analysis based on the load line method. SPICE models.
8	Bipolar transistors: BJT npn and pnp. Circuit symbols of the BJT. * Qualitative analysis of the i-v behavior of the BJT transistor. * BJT transistor saturation region. Direct active region of the BJT. * Ebers Moll model. Transconductance in direct active zone. Early effect. BJT capacity in direct active zone. * BJT biasing* 4-resistor network biasing. Analysis based on the load line method. SPICE models. Voltage regulator series
9	Introduction to digital electronics
10	Ideal logic gates. * Definition of logic levels and noise margins. Design criteria for a logic gate. Dynamic response of a logic gate. * Ascent and descent times. * Propagation delay. Delay-power product. Basics of Boolean algebra. CMOS logic circuits. * Static characteristics of the CMOS inverter. Transfer characteristic of the CMOS inverter. * NOR and NAND CMOS logic gates, Complex CMOS logic gates.
11	MOS memories and sequential circuits. Bistable latch. * SR flip-flop. * JK flip-flop. * Flip-flop T. Flip-Flop race condition. The type D latch to transmission ports. * Master-slave flip-flop. * Edge-triggered Flip-Flop. Registers and counters. Random access memories (RAM). * The six-transistor memory cell (6-T). Dynamic memories (DRAM). * The single-transistor memory cell. Read-only memories (ROMs). Non-volatile memories (EEPROM). * Flash memories.
12	Small-signal models and single-stage amplifiers: The transistor as an amplifier. Coupling and bypass capacitors. Use of equivalent DC and AC circuits. * Model for small diode signal. * Small signal field effect transistor model. * Intrinsic voltage gain of the MOSFET. * The common source amplifier (CS) (voltage gain in the center of the band, input and output resistances, power dissipation and signal excursion).
13	Classification of amplifiers. * Injection and sampling of the signal (configurations CS, CD, CG). * CS configuration with degeneration resistance. AC coupled multistage amplifiers.
14	Current mirrors: * DC analysis of the MOS current mirror. * Change of reflection ratio for MOS current mirror. Cascode current mirror.
15	Differential pair: * Differential and common mode signal. * Analysis for large signals of the differential pair at BJT. * Small-signal analysis of differential and common-mode gain and CMRR for differential pair at BJT and MOS.
16	Frequency Response: * Amplifier frequency response, mid-band gain, lower cut-off frequency, higher cut-off frequency. * Estimation of the lower cut-off frequency with the short-circuit time constant method. Lower cut-off frequency estimate for CS, CG, CD amplifier configurations. * High frequency model for the MOSFET. * Transition frequency fT.
17	* High frequency analysis of the common source amplifier. * The Miller effect. * Estimation of the upper cut-off frequency using the open-loop time constant method. Frequency response of a CS amplifier. Cascode amplifier.
18	LTSPICE simulator

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Learning is verified through the final exam. This consists of a written test, lasting 1.5 hours, and an oral interview.

The written test, whose evaluation is expressed in tenths, is preparatory to the oral exam and focuses on the following topics:

Analysis of an analog circuit in dc and in ac and which can include diodes and ideal operational amplifiers. Calculation of cutoff frequencies.

The evaluation of the test also takes into account the correctness and consistency of the procedure, the clarity of presentation, the correctness of the numerical calculations (if required) and how much the student has managed to complete. The result of the written test is published on the Studium platform (http://studium.unict.it). The minimum grade for admission to the oral exam is 4/10.

The oral interview is the final part of the exam and takes place with three questions focused on as many topics of the course (typically, two questions on analog circuits and one on digital circuits), on which the student must demonstrate adequate understanding, mastery of the topics discussed and clarity of presentation. The average duration of the oral interview is 30 minutes. The final grade will take into account the result of the written test and, with greater weight, the outcome of the oral interview.

To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata - Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA) referring teacher within their department.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Single or double half-wave rectifier circuits

Series and parallel voltage regulator

Virtual short circuit

Applications of operational applicators

Transistor frequency of the MOS transistor

Current mirrors

Frequency response of a CS stage

Cascode amplifier

CMOS logic gates

BJT in saturation

NAND and NOR CMOS gates

Latch and ﬂ ip- ﬂ op

Registers

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