Teaching Devices and Technology with Simulation on PC as a Didactical Approach

Abstract

Semiconductor devices and IC technology are considered ‘difficult’ subjects in a curriculum of Electrical Engineering. The reasons are the strong focus on physics and to some extent mathematics. Engineers by nature are not biased towards theory, and the avalanche of formulas they are confronted with somehow obscures their real understanding of the subject and the true ‘engineering’ nature of semiconductor devices. The use of process and device simulation brings engineering aspects in the course: students do experiments and are not solving formulas. This way the didactics better suit the training of engineers. This paper gives an example of teaching through simulation using the PC process and Device simulator MicroTec from Siborg.