Basic Overview of Semiconductor Device Processing and IC Fabrication

By Prof. S. Sundar Kumar Iyer | IIT Kanpur

Learners enrolled: 3556 | Exam registration: 756

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The course aims to help students understand how unit processes used in a systematic and logical sequence can help build on a single die, a plethora of semiconductor devices connected in a circuit – the integrated circuit (IC). Practical aspects of semiconductor processing and fabrication labs will be touched upon which should be useful for future experimentalists as well a new employees taking up jobs in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Senior UG and PG students

PREREQUISITES: Currently anyone electrical / electronics engineering background with solid state device exposure can take this course. Anyone familiar with basic levels of semiconductor devices, mathematics and physics can take the course

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Semiconductor manufacturing is just taking off in India. Some Indian and many international companies will be interested: Tatas, Micron, BEL, Samsung, TSMC, Global Foundries, Texas Instruments, Motorola, …and so on.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	19 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: General Overview - history, integration and scaling trends in VLSI

Week 2: IC Device Process Integration - patterning process and p-n junction diode as example devices;

Week 3: IC Device Process Integration CMOS

Week 4: Support Technologies - clean-rooms; and vacuum systems, plasma for processing, basic material and electrical characterisation

Week 5: Substrates - silicon wafer fabrication, silicon-on-insulator wafers, alternate substrates

Week 6: Unit Additive Processes: oxidation and nitridation of silicon

Week 7: Unit Additive Processes: Diffusion and Ion-Implantation

Week 8: Unit Additive Processes: Thermal evaporation, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), sputter deposition, etc.;

Week 9: Unit Patterning Process - photo-lithography;

Week 10: Unit Subtractive Processes - wet etching, reactive ion etching, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), etc.;

Week 11: Process Control - statistical quality control (SQC) and design of experiment (DoE);

Week 12: New Trends - 3-D integration in devices and packaging, electronics printing and flexible device processing

Books and references

• Stanley Wolf and Richard N. Tauber, “Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era” Volume-1, Lattice Press.

• S.M. Sze, “Semiconductor Devices Physics and Technology”, 2nd Edition, Wiley.

• Sorab K. Ghandhi, “VLSI Fabrication Principles Silicon and Galium Arsenide”, 2nd Edition, Wiley.

• Richard C.Jaeger, “Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication”: Volume 5, 2nd Edition, Modular Series on Solid State Deviced, Vol 5 (Or any basic book on semiconductor fabrication)

Instructor bio

Prof. S. Sundar Kumar Iyer

IIT Kanpur

Prof.S. Sundar Kumar Iyer got his B.Tech. and M.S. degrees in the Electrical Engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 1990 and 1993 respectively. He completed his Ph.D. in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at the University of California, Berkeley in 1998. He joined IBM Microelectronics in NY where he was involved in developing electrical fuses for the embedded DRAM team. In July 2004, he formally joined as a faculty member at the Electrical Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur where he has been working since. His current interest is in fabrication of organic solar cells which he does with his team at Samtel Centre for Display Technologies and the National Centre for Flexible Electronics at his current institute.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 19, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team