Course Instructor:
Prof. Andrew Mastbaum
mastbaum@physics.rutgers.edu
Office: W320 Physics & Astronomy Building
Meetings:
This one-semester course provides an introduction to modern instrumentation and electronics. It is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for building useful and interesting circuits either in the modern research laboratory or on their own. The course is focused on techniques and devices currently used in modern equipment, and special attention is paid to the basic ideas and techniques used with important types of circuits.
The course is organized into a sequence of Modules, each building on the ones before it. The material is organized by topic on the Canvas Modules page — use this as a guide as we proceed through the course.
Topics covered will include:
There will be one 80-minute lecture and one 180-minute lab per week. Lectures will occasionally include quizzes, which contribute substantially to your final grade. These quizzes cannot be made up, but the lowest score from the semester will be dropped.
Some labs will be completed in one week, while others span two weeks. Everyone must individually prepare a laboratory report for each lab. More detailed instructions are available on the Labs and Lab Reports page on Canvas.
The tentative schedule for the course is given below. The laboratory topics are typically covered in the lecture the week before the lab. This schedule is subject to change.
| Week | Lecture |
Topic |
Chapters |
Suggested Problems |
Laboratory |
| 1 | 1/17 | DC Circuits | 2–6, 15–16, 18 | 4.10–12, 5.1, 6.5 | No lab |
| 2 | 1/24 | AC circuits | 7–9, 12, 17, 51, 53 | 7.1, 7.4, 8.5, 9.1, 12.3 | DC voltage dividers |
| 3 | 1/31 | RLC and resonance | 8–13 | 11.2, 12.1, 12.5 | AC circuits, capacitance, impedance |
| 4 | 2/7 | Semiconductor devices | 40–45 | 44.1–3 | RLC resonance |
| 5 | 2/14 | Amplifiers | 28–29, 31 | 29.3–6 | Diodes and transistors |
| 6 | 2/21 | Amplifiers 2 | 32 | 31.3–4 | Operational amplifiers |
| 7 | 2/28 | Digital logic | 19, 34, 54 | 19.5, 34.3, | Differential and instrumentation amps |
| 8 | 3/6 | Digital devices | 21–24 | 21.1, 23.4 | |
| 3/13 | Spring recess | Spring recess | |||
| 9 | 3/20 | Analog/digital conversion | 35–36 | Digital circuits, timers and counters | |
| 10 | 3/27 | Digital systems | 25–27 | ||
| 11 | 4/3 | Programmable logic | 25–27 | Digitization: DACs and ADCs | |
| 12 | 4/10 | Data acquisition Systems | 39 | Programmable logic | |
| 13 | 4/17 | Circuit design | Data Acquisition: GPIB and LabView | ||
| 4/24 | No lecture | Make-up labs |
The primary, required textbook is:
An copy of the textbook is available at the Rutgers Library of Science & Medicine: https://bit.ly/3pZNfc9.
Another excellent and comprehensive reference, beloved by experimental physicists and electrical engineers alike, is Horowitz & Hill's The Art of Electronics (3rd Ed.), Cambridge University Press (ISBN: 9780521809269, https://artofelectronics.net/).
The course grade will be based primarily (75%) lab reports, with the remaining 25% based on participation and quiz scores. Grades will be available on Canvas throughout the semester.
Attendance is taken for all the labs. To receive credit for a lab report, you must attend the lab and collect the data. In cases of an excused absence, complete the Student Self-Reporting Absence form and contact the professor and your lab instructor to schedule a make-up. Make-up labs are only possible for reported excused absences. Lab reports must be composed individually; for full details on lab report requirements, see Labs and Lab Reports on Canvas.
Changes: The course schedule and guidelines are subject to change. Any changes will be communicated promptly and clearly.
Absences: Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to your instructors.
If you have been told to quarantine, or are experiencing symptoms of any transmissible disease, please do not attend in-person class meetings. Contact the Professor to make arrangements for handling such absences.
Fostering an equitable and inclusive classroom. All instructors, students, and staff associated with the Physics and Astronomy Department are expected to follow the Department’s Policy against Discrimination and Harassment https://physics.rutgers.edu/about-us/about-us-policy-affirmation. As stated in this policy, “The Rutgers Department of Physics & Astronomy strives to foster an academic, work, and living environment that is respectful and free from discrimination and harassment. The Department recognizes the human dignity of each member of the community and believes that each member has a responsibility to promote respect and dignity for others so that all community members are free to pursue their educational and work goals in an open environment, to participate in the free exchange of ideas, and to share equally in opportunities.”
The faculty and staff at Rutgers are committed to your success. Students who are successful tend to seek out resources that enable them to excel academically, maintain their health and wellness, prepare for future careers, navigate college life and finances, and connect with the RU community. Helpful resources include the Rutgers Learning Centers and school-based advising (for SAS, SOE, SEBS, and RBS). Additional resources that can help you succeed and connect with the Rutgers community can be found at https://success.rutgers.edu .
Please visit the Rutgers Student Tech Guide for resources available to all students. If you do not have the appropriate technology for financial reasons, please email the Dean of Students (deanofstudents@echo.rutgers.edu ) for assistance. If you are facing other financial hardships, please visit the Office of Financial Aid.
Disability Accommodations: Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/documentation-guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration form on the ODS web site at: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/getting-registered
Rutgers University takes academic dishonesty very seriously. By enrolling in this course, you assume responsibility for familiarizing yourself with the Academic Integrity Policy and the possible penalties (including suspension and expulsion) for violating the policy. As per the policy, all suspected violations will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to):
If in doubt, please contact the Professor. Also review the Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Integrity Resources for Students.
Use of external website resources (such as Chegg.com or others) to obtain solutions (such as using material from past lab reports) is cheating and a violation of the University Academic Integrity policy. Cheating in the course may result in grade penalties, disciplinary sanctions or educational sanctions. Posting any course assignments to external sites without the instructor's permission may be a violation of copyright and may constitute the facilitation of dishonesty, which may result in the same penalties as cheating.
Almost all original work is the intellectual property of its authors. This includes not just books and articles, but the syllabi, lectures, slides, recordings, course materials, presentations, homework problems, exams, and other materials used in this course, in either printed or electronic form. You may not copy this work, post it online, or disseminate it in any way without the explicit permission of the instructor. Respect for an author’s efforts and intellectual property rights is an important value that members of the university community are expected to take seriously.
The university provides a number of resources to support your physical and mental well-being. Several valuable resources and listed here and you are encouraged to contact the Professor for more guidance about university resources.