The MS program in electrical and computer engineering requires 36 to 40 semester hours of study. How you earn those creditsand what your academic experience is likedepends on whether you select the thesis option or the coursework-only option<br><br>Solid state devices is a wide area of electronic devices and systems based on semiconductors. Those materials could be elemental semiconductors, such as silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge), or compound semiconductors that combine two or more materials from the periodic table, such as GaAs, InP, and AlGaAs. Silicon, the most studied material in the periodic table, has been the material of choice for semiconductor device fabrication since the early 1960s. Compound semiconductors, on the other hand, have electrical properties superior to Si and are now replacing Si in high-speed electronic applications. The main advantage of these semiconductors is that their electronic properties can be precisely tailored to specific electronic and photonic applications. The solid state device area concentrates on theory and device fabrication to provide a solid background for future electronic device development.