EC ENGR 170C
Photonic Sensors and Solar Cells
Description: (Formerly numbered Electrical Engineering 170C.) Lecture, four hours; recitation, one hour; outside study, seven hours. Enforced requisite: course 101A. Recommended: courses 2, 170A. Fundamentals of detection of light for communication and sensing, as well as conversion of light to electrical energy in solar cells. Introduction to radiometry, semiconductor photodetectors, noise processes and figures of merit, thermal detectors, and photovoltaic solar cells of various types and materials. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Professor Williams is a really good professor for this course. Personally, I had a miserable workload for this quarter, so I wasn't able to pay as much attention to the course as I had hoped, because the material is actually interesting to me (don't take this course if you really aren't interested in semiconductor physics and E&M principles because you will hate it). The final project (presentation and paper) was pretty strict in terms of requirements (time limit, formatting, etc.), but the grading isn't particularly harsh as long as you don't miss large sections of your chosen topic. The lectures are a little bit dry, which is not the worst, but the textbook is atrocious. I managed to find a pdf and none of the equations are properly written out (slashes for division, Greek variables missing in some eqns, and missing parentheses). Overall, if you find solar cells and semiconductor physics interesting, you'll have a decent time here. Otherwise, don't bother because the photonics series really isn't worth it for anyone who isn't very into it
Spring 2021 - Professor Williams is a really good professor for this course. Personally, I had a miserable workload for this quarter, so I wasn't able to pay as much attention to the course as I had hoped, because the material is actually interesting to me (don't take this course if you really aren't interested in semiconductor physics and E&M principles because you will hate it). The final project (presentation and paper) was pretty strict in terms of requirements (time limit, formatting, etc.), but the grading isn't particularly harsh as long as you don't miss large sections of your chosen topic. The lectures are a little bit dry, which is not the worst, but the textbook is atrocious. I managed to find a pdf and none of the equations are properly written out (slashes for division, Greek variables missing in some eqns, and missing parentheses). Overall, if you find solar cells and semiconductor physics interesting, you'll have a decent time here. Otherwise, don't bother because the photonics series really isn't worth it for anyone who isn't very into it
1 of 1
