It should be stressed that this text is an introductory text, covering the basics well, but not taking the material much beyond the intermediate level. It is also very much an engineering text rather than a physics text, for the focus is squarely placed on the technology and not the underlying solid-state physics. As such, it is suited to undergraduate electrical/electronic engineers wishing to gain some appreciation of the physics underpinning conventional semiconductor devices, and the way they are fabricated, or for physicists wishing to gain some perspective on the fabrication and operation of the same, but it is in no way a comprehensive textbook on semiconductor physics.

Nevertheless, the material that is presented is well chosen, and well explained. The English prose style is somewhat pedestrian, but this is no great flaw in an engineering textbook. All the essentials of semiconductor materials (almost exclusively Si and GaAs) are described, the p-n junction, as well as the major device types (BJTs, (MOS/MES)FETs, microwave diodes, LEDs, lasers, etc.) and the modern technologies employed for their fabrication. In some senses, the section on fabrication technologies, taking up fully a third of the book, is perhaps its best section, for fabrication is rarely given such emphasis (although, again, not detailed, but covering most salient points) in an introductory book.

The pedagogical method employed by Sze is sound, and relevant worked examples are provided. The only short-coming is perhaps the relative brevity of the end-of-chapter problems, for which no answers are provided, but, in such a textbook, I feel that it is not really necessary to work through them to gain a solid grasp of the material presented.

Physically, the book is much more attractive than the previous edition. The cover is more appealling, and the text is well set in a two-colour print. The diagrams are nothing special, but they are generally clear and explain their point well, and are certainly much improved from the first edition, especially those in the fabrication section.

Just a final comment on other reviews: it is difficult to see how this book may be regarded as a bible of any sort, for the material is covered in quite a superficial manner. I wonder if they are not mistaking it for the 'big Sze', viz., Sze's 'Physics of Semiconductor Devices', which is another, much larger and more comprehensive, work of Sze's.


Nice Book from Dedicated Author   February 18, 2006
Mohadig Widha Rousstia (Bremen, Germany)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The bible of semiconductor intended for under-/graduate students or as reference for advance scientist is the market of the author. The book consists of basic band gap explanation and carrier transport phenomena going through almost all exploited devices applied nowadays. Beside that, the technology starting form epitaxial growth until the etching mechanism is enclosed here. Moreover, the need of equation derivation is also appended herein since the author tries to explain them in deep.

Some devices,e.g BARITT, TRAPATT are not explained here. The photonic device are coped in a concise clear way including the solar cell.
The presentation and pictures attached here is well depicted and really helps the reader to the understanding of the material completely. Furthermore, this book is also well-suited for crash course for some experienced readers.


A great introductory overview of the principles and practise.   June 24, 2010
R. G. W. Brown (Tustin, CA, USA)
This book, in spite of its age (2001 era) remains a great introductory overview of the principles and practise of semiconductor device engineering. The clarity and thoroughness of each basic topic are un-surpassed in competitor books.


Recommended as a reference book   December 17, 2001
Anat Eshed (MIT, Cambridge, MA)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a good book providing the most important references in the field of semiconductors devices and technology. As a text book it is hard to follow and gives little scientific background regarding the physics of processes in semiconductors and structures design criteria. However, it provides a wonderful summary of the most important facts related to the devices and their derivatives, including valuable data on the common materials in use.