Analog Electronics

PHYS 431 - Winter 2021

http://pages.uoregon.edu/~torrence/431/
Updated Thursday December 31, 2020

Announcements will go here

Instructor Prof. Eric Torrence Willamette 418, 346-4618
torrence (at) uoregon
Office Hours: M 1-3
Lab
Assistant		 TBD (at) uoregon
Office Hours:
Lecture TR 10:15-11:45 on Zoom
Labs Lab schedule
Note: An assigned lab time is not strictly required.
Students are encouraged to work the labs on their own, although some of the later labs are appropriate to work in teams.
Textbook Analog and Digital Electronics, Steck (downloadable PDF)
Art of Electronics, 3rd Ed., Horowitz and Hill (not required)
Student Manual for A of E, Hayes and Horowitz (not required)
A copy of each is on reserve in the Science Library.

Overview

This course will introduce the basic concepts of analog electronics. The emphasis will be on a basic working knowledge of analog devices and building blocks, suitable for experimental research in science. The following topics will be covered:

Grading

Course grades will be based on weekly homework assignments (25%), weekly lab assignments (30%), weekly quizzes (25% each), lecture participation (5%), and a final exam (15%).
In order to pass the course, you must complete the labs!

Syllabus

Week Tuesday Thursday Lab
(due Tuesday)		 Homework
(due Tuesday)		 Quiz
(due Thursday)		 ADE Reading AoE Reading
Week 1
1/4 - 1/8		 DC Linear Circuits Lab Signup Hwk 1
 1.1-1.4, 1.6 1.1-1.2
Week 2
1/11 - 1/15		 AC Linear Circuits Linear Components Hwk 2 Quiz 1 2.1-2.5 1.3-1.5, 1.7
Week 3
1/18 - 1/22		 Diodes Output Impedance Diodes Hwk 3 Quiz 2 3.1-3.6 1.6
Week 4
1/25 - 1/29		 Transistor Basics Transistor Basics Hwk 4 Quiz 3 4.1-4.7 2.1-2.2.6
Week 5
2/1 - 2/5		 BJT Amplifiers Transistor Circuits
(due 2/16)		 Hwk 5 Quiz 4 4.8-4.12 2.2.7-2.3.8
Week 6
2/8 - 2/12		 FETs Hwk 6 Quiz 5 5.1-5.4 3.1-3.2.4
Week 7
2/15 - 2/19		 OpAmp Basics Intro to OpAmps Hwk 7 Quiz 6 7.1-7.5 4.1-4.3.1
Week 8
2/22 - 2/26		 OpAmp Circuits OpAmp Circuits
(due 3/12)		 Hwk 8 Quiz 7
Week 9
3/1 - 3/5		 OpAmps Limitations Comparators and Oscillators Hwk 9
(due 3/11)		 Quiz 8 7.6-7.10 2.5,4.4,4.9, 7.1
Week 10
3/8 - 3/12		 Power Supplies Review
Finals
3/15 - 3/19		 Final Exam 8:00-10:00 Tuesday March 16th

This syllabus is tentative, and is subject to change as the quarter progresses.

Any slides shown in class will also be available in the notes directory.

Lecture Notes

There is no required textbook for this course. Our primary resource will be a virtual text written by Prof. Steck that is a downloadable PDF. These notes more than cover the topics we will discuss in this course.

The canonical text for learning electronics as a Physics major is The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill. AoE is a problematic book for undergraduates, as it contains far too much information. In many ways it is more of a reference than a textbook, and in fact you will find that most experimental physicists have a copy on their bookshelf. No other book that I know of, however, contains as much useful and practical information, and being able to pick it up and find what you need is a skill which any experimentalist should have. If you think you will be doing any kind of electronics work in the future, I would encourage you to follow along by doing some supplementary readings in AoE.

Before Prof. Steck wrote his tome, a more bare-bones set of notes was developed by Prof. Frey. These contain the key information you really need to understand, and may be another good resource (particularly for studying for exams). These notes cover rather closely the material we go over in class, without much additional material.

If you are having trouble accessing the notes, try going directly to the notes directory. Download the PDF files directly and open using a PDF viewer.

Finally, I should mention that another really good companion to AoE is the Student Manual for A of E by Hayes and Horowitz. This book is essentially the notes (and labs) for the Harvard electronics course taught by Prof. Hayes which has been published to supplement the deficiencies in AoE. Hayes really stresses an intuitive understanding of electronics, and the Student Manual contains a bare minimum of math, but lots of helpful discussion of practical circuits.

Labs

Lab 'reports' are due on the Tuesday of the week after labs are assigned. I really want to see proof that you did the lab and understood the material. You will need to keep a lab notebook, and that notebook should be what you turn in each week. Neatly organized notes taken during the lab itself, answers to the questions posed in the lab writeup, plus a short summary giving the main quantitative results in your notebook is perfectly adequate. If you are very sloppy in your notes, you may also turn in a longer printed write up, but please get into the habit of taking neat legible lab notes. Either way, please turn in your lab notebook (legible or not) on Tuesday at 3PM. There will be a designated location in the lab room to turn these in.

Lab Resources

Homework

Homework will typically be assigned Tuesday and due on the following Tuesday at the start of class. Many of the homework problems are simply to force you to work through a particular concept 'by hand' at least once. The exams will closely follow the homework assignments, so it is worth making sure that you can do all of the homework problems. I reserve the right to not grade every single problem in detail.

Academic Misconduct

There is arguably a grey area between working together collaboratively on a homework assignment or lab, and just copying somebody else's work. In general, however, it is usually very apparent to the people involved whether a student is really contributing to a result, or just copying from others. Copying answers and passing them off as your own work, either from another student or from any other source is no different from plagiarism, and will be dealt with according to the UO rules and procedures for academic misconduct.

You are responsible for all the work you turn in for this course. You are encouraged to work with others to help your understanding, but anything you write down on your homework or you lab assignments needs to be your own work. You can certainly collect data with your lab partner and discuss the methods for analyzing the data and even compare your results, but all written work must be your own.

Campus Resources

Tutoring and Academic Engagement Center engage.uoregon.edu/services/ Drop-in math and writing support in addition to tutoring, study skills support, and Class Encore. Located in the 4th Floor Knight Library call (541) 346-3226 or engage@uoregon.edu.

Counseling Center Call anytime to speak with a therapist who can provide support and connect you with resources. Located on the 2nd Floor of the Health Center, call (541) 346-3227.

Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence CMAE mission is to promote student retention and persistence for historically underrepresented and underserved populations. We develop and implement programs and services that support retention, academic excellence, and success at the UO and beyond. We reaffirm our commitment to all students, including undocumented and tuition equity students. Located on the 1st Floor of Oregon Hall, call (541) 346-3479 or cmae@uoregon.edu.

The UO Access Shuttle is an on-campus ride service provided at no cost to students with conditions that limit mobility. More information and a sign-up form can be found on the parking & transportation department website: parking.uoregon.edu/content/access-shuttle.

Accessible Education

The University of Oregon is working to create inclusive learning environments. The instructor believes strongly in creating inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your participation, please notify us as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to contact the Accessible Education Center. If you are not a student with a documented disability, but you would like for us to know about class issues that will impact your ability to learn, we encourage you to come visit during office hours so that we can strategize how you can get the most out of this course. Located on the 1st Floor of Oregon Hall, call (541) 346-1155 or uoaec@uoregon.edu.

Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment

Any student who has experienced sexual assault, relationship violence, sex or gender-based bullying, stalking, and/or sexual harassment may seek resources and help at safe.uoregon.edu. To get help by phone, a student can also call either the UO’s 24-hour hotline at 541-346-7244 [SAFE], or the non-confidential Title IX Coordinator at 541-346-8136. From the SAFE website, students may also connect to Callisto, a confidential, third-party reporting site that is not a part of the university.

Students experiencing any other form of prohibited discrimination or harassment can find information at respect.uoregon.edu or aaeo.uoregon.edu or contact the non-confidential AAEO office at 541-346-3123 or the Dean of Students Office at 541-346-3216 for help. As UO policy has different reporting requirements based on the nature of the reported harassment or discrimination, additional information about reporting requirements for discrimination or harassment unrelated to sexual assault, relationship violence, sex or gender based bullying, stalking, and/or sexual harassment is available at Discrimination & Harassment.

Reporting

The instructor of this class is a Student-Directed Employee. As such, if you disclose to me, I will respond to you with respect and kindness. I will listen to you, and will be sensitive to your needs and desires. I will not judge you. I will support you. As part of that support, I will direct students who disclose sexual harassment or sexual violence to resources that can help. I will only report the information shared to the university administration when you as the student requests that the information be reported (unless someone is in imminent risk of serious harm or is a minor). Please note the difference between ‘privacy’ and ‘confidentiality.’ As a Student-Directed Employee I can offer privacy because I am not required to report certain information to the university. However, I cannot be bound by confidentiality in the same way that a counselor or attorney is. Confidential resources such as these means that information shared is protected by federal and state laws. Any information that I as a student-directed employee receive may still be accessed by university or court proceedings. This means, for example, that I could still be called as a witness or required to turn over any related documents or notes that I keep. Please note also that I am required to report all other forms of prohibited discrimination or harassment to the university administration. Specific details about confidentiality of information and reporting obligations of employees can be found at titleix.uoregon.edu.

Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse

UO employees, including faculty, staff, and GEs, are mandatory reporters of child abuse. This statement is to advise you that your disclosure of information about child abuse to a UO employee may trigger the UO employee's duty to report that information to the designated authorities. Please refer to the following links for detailed information about mandatory reporting: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect.