FYS4260 – Microsystems and Electronic Packaging
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The course introduces how modern electronics and sensor components are constructed and assembled. The course does not deal with the theoretical design aspects of electronic circuits, but rather builds understanding about how the material technology and mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties affect the electronic system’s functionality and reliability. The course deals primarily with conventional electronics, but also describes opportunities and challenges associated with the construction and packaging of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS).
Learning outcome
After completing the course:
- you have knowledge of important factors that affect the reliability of electronics and sensor systems and can use this knowledge to design solutions suitable for a given application.
- you are familiar with the work process (from user requirements, via specification, design of the production basis, PCB production, and assembly of components, to test and verification of finished cards) when designing electronics, and you will have gained practical experience of this process through the project work that runs in parallel with the lectures throughout the semester.
- you are familiar with how common circuit board technologies and electronics components are built.
- you can make simple predictions about, among other things, thermomechanical stress, heat fluxes/cooling requirements, and failure rates of fault mechanisms.
- are familiar with central processes for creating MEMS sensor and actuator elements in silicon and know the challenges of packing such elements into components that can be used together with other electronics.
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Number of places: max 30, due to laboratory capacity
Recommended previous knowledge
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with FYS3260 – Microsystems and electronic packaging.
- 10 credits overlap with FYS9260 – Microsystems and Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Technologies.
Teaching
The first lecture is mandatory. If you are unable to attend, the Department of Physics has to be informed no later than the same day (studieinfo@fys.uio.no), or else you will lose your place in the course.
The course extends over a full semester:
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4 hours of lectures per week
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About 60 hours of mandatory project work per semester.
As project work, you will specify, design, assemble components and test a printed circuit board realized in 4-layer FR4 technology. You need to hand in a report on the project work, and this report needs to be approved before you can sit for the final exam. There will also be a joint summary where all the students present their results and learning outcomes.
In addition, there will be offered tutorial sessions on practical electronic circuit construction, and voluntary exercises with solutions will be offered.
As the teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance. Read about your insurance coverage as a student.
Examination
Final oral or written exam, which counts 100 % of the final grade.
It is decided at the beginning of the semester whether the final examination will be oral or written.
The project report must be approved before you can take the final exam.
When writing your exercises make sure to familiarize yourself with the rules for use of sources and citations. Breach of these rules may lead to suspicion of attempted cheating.
It will also be counted as one of the three attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses: FYS3260 – Microsystems and electronic packaging, FYS9260 – Microsystems and Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Technologies
Examination support material
Necessary formulas and data will be given on the exam.
Language of examination
Subjects taught in English will only offer the exam paper in English. You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed exam at the beginning of the next semester.
New examinations are offered at the beginning of the next semester for students who do not successfully complete the exam during the previous semester.
We do not offer a re-scheduled exam for students who withdraw during the exam.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.