PHYS 404 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Description

Objectives

The objective of PHYS 404 is to give you the confidence to analyze and build simple electronic circuits. Roughly the first half of the course will focus on analog electronics.  We'll discuss steady state circuit analysis using complex numbers and simple time-domain analysis.  We'll then discuss some basic semiconductor physics, pn junctions and transistors.   After that we'll look at amplifiers, feedback, control circuits, filters and oscillators.  The focus will then move to digital electronics: field effect transistors, logic gates and microcontrollers.    We'll then return to more sophisticated circuits and deal with signals and noise, modulation techniques and some aspects of high frequency electronics.   Lecture notes will be posted for each class.   There is no required text but if you wish to buy one, I'd recommend P. Horowitz and W. Hill, The Art of Electronics.  Any of the 3 editions will be more than adequate for Physics 404. 

60% of your grade will come from your performance in the lab:  6 hours per week of on-time, mandatory attendance with the TAs present, followed by a lab report.     It is absolutely necessary that you attend the lab sessions and keep up with the schedule.  The course is now based around the Analog-Discovery 2,  a sophisticated electronic test station that fits in your pocket, communicates with your computer through a USB port and contains an oscilloscope, 2 signal generators, power supplies, logic and spectrum analyzers and digital input/output.  Each student will sign out one of these devices along with a digitial multimeter and breadboard.  This arrangement will allow you to continue working on the circuits at home if you wish to. 

Course Structure

Laboratory

Two 3-hour sessions per week in 6106 Engineering Science Building.  There are two sections that share the laboratory equipment:

Lecture notes and Lab descriptions will be posted ahead of time. You will often be asked to demonstrate circuits to the lab TA. Your lab reports should be typed.   Due dates for the lab reports will be posted but are typically a week to 10 days after the last lab session.

Lectures

Two 2-hour lectures per week, Mondays & Wednesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. in 222 Loomis.

Problem sets

The will be problem sets roughly every two weeks. Solutions will be available online after the due date.

Quizzes

Instead of a midterm exam there will be 5 quizzes, typically 20 minutes long, spaced throughout the semester.  The times will not be announced.  The intent is to (1) motivate class attendance (2) make sure everyone stays up to date with material (3) reduce the likelihood of someone having a bad day and doing poorly on a conventional exam.  Quizzes will count for 10% of your grade. 

Exams

The only exam will be a 3-hour final.  You will be allowed to use anything posted on the course website during the exam.