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 work with electronic circuits and instruments. The first half of the course will focus on analog circuits. Steady state circuit analysis using complex numbers will be introduced from day one. We will also discuss time-domain analysis where appropriate.  I'll talk about semiconductors, pn junctions and transistors because these are the building blocks of modern electronics.  As physics students you should know something about them, just as you know something about Lagrangians or thermodynamics.  We'll then move on to integrated circuits - op amps, regulators, filters, oscillators and electronic noise.   Digital logic, analog/digital circuits, signal processes and modulation will be introduced later in the course.    Lecture notes will be posted for each class. On-time attendance in lab is mandatory. You cannot cram for this course at the end of the semester!

Course Structure

Laboratory

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

The first lab will be an introduction to the test instruments.  No lab report will be required.  Subsequent labs will be two weeks long. Lab descriptions will be posted ahead of time. Please keep a notebook for a complete, real-time record of all lab activities. It should contain circuit schematics, data and graphs, notes to yourself, etc. You will be asked to demonstrate each circuit to the lab TA. Your lab write-up should be typed and submitted no later than one week after the last lab period. Although you will have access to the P404 lab after hours, you are expected to be there during regular hours with the TA.

Lectures

Two 2-hour lectures per week, Mondays & Wednesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. in 35 Loomis.

Problem sets

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

Texts

There is no required text for this course.  Lecture notes will be posted and in principle, that's all you should need.  However, if you wish to purchase a book, The Art of Electronics (Horowitz and Hill) would be my first recommendation.   The 3rd edition just came out but any edition will do.   I would also recommend Practical Electronics for Inventors (P. Scherz and S. Monk) which is considerably less sophisticated but discusses topics like AC circuit analysis in much greater detail.