Lecture Description
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.
Literature:
- Solid State Physics, Neil Ashcroft, N. Mermin, Dan Wei, ISBN: 978-981-4369-89-3
- Quantum Theory of the Solid State, Joseph Callaway, ISBN: 978-0121552039
- Physics of Condensed Matter, Prasanta Kumar Misra, ISBN: 0123849543
- Semiconductor Devices, Simon M. Sze, Ming-Kwei Lee, ISBN: 978-0-470-53794-7
