PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRONICS - MOD. 1

The course is mandatory for the BSc-level programme in Engineering Physics and will be offered in the second period of the third year. It is an introduction to the scientific and engineering technique on analog electronics circuits. This course is foundational to understand complex electronics systems.

After completing the course, the student will be able to:

- Analyze electronic circuits based on diodes
- Design simple diode electronic circuits (for example limiters and rectifiers)
- Understand the principle of operation of transistor-based amplifiers
- Analyze and design single-stage amplifier stages, determining their main figure of merits and transfer function
- Design current generators based on transistors and the "current mirror" circuit
- Understanding the differential amplifier and its use
- Understand the behavior of circuits based on operational amplifiers

The course requires knowledge of circuit theory, basic principles of mathematics (derivatives, integrals, and differential equations), and fundamental concepts in electromagnetism.

- Introductory concepts on electronics: Kirchhoff's laws, Thevenin's and Norton's theorems, single-time-constant (STC) circuits, Bode's diagrams
- Introduction to amplifiers
- Introduction to semiconductor physics and PN junction
- Diodes, operating regimes and circuits
- Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs)
- Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
- Transistor amplifiers and frequency response
- Building blocks of integrated-circuit amplifiers
- Introduction to the differential amplifier

- A. S. Sedra and C. K. Smith “Microelectronic Circuits”, 8th Edition, Oxford Univ. Press, 2019.
- Richard C. Jaeger and Travis N. Blalock "Microelectronic circuit design", McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.

The achievement of the teaching objectives is assessed through course assignments (maximum +3/30) and a final written exam. The final written exam consists of 2-3 problems similar to those covered in class and group work, with a maximum score of 30/30. Both the assignments and the written exam, if passed, are valid for one academic year. The use of notes, books, and other teaching materials is not permitted during the exam. An optional oral exam is available at the student's request, involving a few theoretical questions on course topics and solving an exercise similar to those in the written exam. The oral exam can adjust the written exam mark by up to ±4/30. A single final mark for both modules will be calculated as the average of the individual marks from each module.

The course will take place through classroom lectures. The lectures will combine theory and exercises to facilitate the learning of the fundamental concepts and the understanding of the main parameters for the design and performance evaluation of analog circuits.

Italian

written and oral