* You might find some helpful perspectives in this recent thread:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...-semiconductor-industry.1007212/#post-6544148 .
* In the US, you can do solid-state/semiconductor research (university, industry, or government lab) with a PhD in physics or EE (or other majors such as chemistry or materials science and engineering). Sometimes there is a different emphasis (e.g., fundamental properties of semiconductors regardless of potential device applications vs new device designs). But sometimes people with different majors work along side each other in exactly the same specialty [e.g., I got my PhD in physics, but worked in R&D of epitaxial crystal growth; I had colleagues who had majors in EE, chemistry, or materials science and engineering].
* In the US, with respect to career opportunities, if you decide to stop with a master's, and not to continue to a PhD, you're far better off with a master's in EE than in physics.
* With respect to choosing between physics and EE, also look at the required courses outside of your immediate interest (research in solid-state/semiconductors). E.g., at my undergrad university, the introductory course for EE was not something I would have found exciting (such as devices and circuits), but Introductory Network Theory. I found it really boring, and dropped it. On the other hand, to get my PhD in physics, I had to tolerate a graduate semester of high-energy particle physics.
* Suppose you got your PhD in physics vs EE. Then suppose there were a meltdown in your target field of solid-state/semiconductor research. What Plan B (C, D, ...) would you find satisfactory, and which major would better prepare you for them?
* Many of the above issues you can't resolve at this early stage. But keep them in mind as you progress in your education. I don't know how flexible the education programs in the UK are. But in many US universities, you can, e.g., major in physics and take electives in EE (or major in EE and take electives in physics). I was waffling between physics and materials science and engineering. I ended up majoring in physics and taking electives in materials science and engineering (both undergrad and grad). I did my PhD dissertation for a professor who had a PhD in chemistry, but had a joint appointment in physics and materials science and engineering.