EC ENGR 121B
Principles of Semiconductor Device Design
Description: (Formerly numbered Electrical Engineering 121B.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; outside study, eight hours. Enforced requisite: course 2. Introduction to principles of operation of bipolar and MOS transistors, equivalent circuits, high-frequency behavior, voltage limitations. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Depending on your major, you may have seen this content multiple times before taking this class. The lectures are pretty dry, but they're informative and usually a good match to what the exams will cover. He doesn't cover any practice problems, so the lectures are all just theory, which does find its way into the exams. The textbook is alright, but it's not exactly great for example problems so the released homework solutions are usually the best bet for studying for exams. The discussions also give out homework answers (before they're due) so those are worth attending if you have the time. They're also recorded if you can't bring yourself to go A lot of people freaked because there is little rhyme or reason to the difficulty of the midterms. I got wrecked by the 1st but did oddly well on the 2nd. The final was pretty hard though which is probably why I ended with a B+. But in any case, the exam questions are pretty reflective of the homework and lecture slides. No major surprises with this class. Just do the homework and look at the slides more than the textbook and it works out well enough. BTW what I've written applies mostly if he maintains the current course format (posted lecture recordings, non-mandatory discussions, open book zoom-monitored exams, etc)
Winter 2022 - Depending on your major, you may have seen this content multiple times before taking this class. The lectures are pretty dry, but they're informative and usually a good match to what the exams will cover. He doesn't cover any practice problems, so the lectures are all just theory, which does find its way into the exams. The textbook is alright, but it's not exactly great for example problems so the released homework solutions are usually the best bet for studying for exams. The discussions also give out homework answers (before they're due) so those are worth attending if you have the time. They're also recorded if you can't bring yourself to go A lot of people freaked because there is little rhyme or reason to the difficulty of the midterms. I got wrecked by the 1st but did oddly well on the 2nd. The final was pretty hard though which is probably why I ended with a B+. But in any case, the exam questions are pretty reflective of the homework and lecture slides. No major surprises with this class. Just do the homework and look at the slides more than the textbook and it works out well enough. BTW what I've written applies mostly if he maintains the current course format (posted lecture recordings, non-mandatory discussions, open book zoom-monitored exams, etc)
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - This class was very difficult. The professor himself said this wasnlike the honors 121b but without the honors credit lol. No one showed up to lecture but I did as did 15-20 people out of 75. The material is very hard. EE 2 is not enough prep tbh. Averages are low and the midterm was 20 pages and the final was a whopping 39 pages long. Did not finish both exams. In fact i left 1/4 of the midterm and final blank. You need to read the book and do a lot of outside practice because lectures have 0 examples. It’s only theory. The professor is a nice guy and very smart. Just way smarter than the average student. Homework load was heavy. 9 homework’s total for the quarter. And the equations needed to solve aren’t in the slides or the book so you gotta do a lot of assuming and derivations your self. Grading is ok as it is curve dependent in the end.
Fall 2018 - This class was very difficult. The professor himself said this wasnlike the honors 121b but without the honors credit lol. No one showed up to lecture but I did as did 15-20 people out of 75. The material is very hard. EE 2 is not enough prep tbh. Averages are low and the midterm was 20 pages and the final was a whopping 39 pages long. Did not finish both exams. In fact i left 1/4 of the midterm and final blank. You need to read the book and do a lot of outside practice because lectures have 0 examples. It’s only theory. The professor is a nice guy and very smart. Just way smarter than the average student. Homework load was heavy. 9 homework’s total for the quarter. And the equations needed to solve aren’t in the slides or the book so you gotta do a lot of assuming and derivations your self. Grading is ok as it is curve dependent in the end.
Most Helpful Review
Actually kinda got me interested in solid state stuff once we hit MOS capacitors and MOSFETS. Lectures with a tablet - powerpoint with annotations. He definitely tries to make sure everyone understands the material, and he emphasizes the crucial points. He will answer all questions in class. One of the best EE professors.
Actually kinda got me interested in solid state stuff once we hit MOS capacitors and MOSFETS. Lectures with a tablet - powerpoint with annotations. He definitely tries to make sure everyone understands the material, and he emphasizes the crucial points. He will answer all questions in class. One of the best EE professors.
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