Solid State Physics

Course Information

All details regarding the location, schedule, and ECTS credits are available on KSL.

This one-semester lecture covers the fundamental concepts of solid-state physics:

Lecture 1 reviews essential concepts from quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and statistical physics.
Lecture 2 describes the microscopic structure of solids.
Lecture 4 introduces the simplest Hamiltonian operator used to describe solids. It is shown that the different masses of nuclei (the lattice) and electrons lead to a decoupling of their degrees of freedom and to two independent Schrödinger equations.
Lecture 5 focuses on the lattice and describes lattice vibrations and phonons.
Lecture 6 computes the total energy, specific heat, and other thermodynamic properties of the lattice.
Lecture 7 focuses on the electronic system and discusses under which conditions electron–electron interactions can be neglected. The consequences of a periodic potential are examined, leading to Bloch wave functions.
Lecture 8 introduces the tight-binding model to describe an electron in a periodic lattice.
Lecture 9 explains the concept of band structure and the resulting properties of solids.
Lecture 10 focuses on semiconductors and their properties.
Lecture 11 addresses semiconductor heterostructures, with examples such as rectifiers, tunnel diodes, and solar cells.
Lecture 12 describes the magnetic properties of solids.
Lecture 13 discusses collective magnetic phenomena, such as ferromagnetism.
Lecture 14 illustrates the key properties of superconductors and uses the results of BCS theory to calculate the most essential properties of superconductors.