Course Content

Sommerfeld (free electron) theory of metals, Electronic heat capacity, Shortcomings of the free electron model, Metallic bonds, Tight binding model of covalent bonds, Tight binding model for solids, Band diagram of 1D monatomic and diatomic solids, Nearly free electron model, Bloch's theorem, Band structure and optical properties, Band structure in the empty lattice model, Bloch electron in an electric field, Crystal momentum of electrons, Potential between atoms, Vibrations of a one-dimensional monatomic and diatomic harmonic chain, Quantization of lattice vibrations, Einstein's and Debye's model of the density of states, Phonon heat capacity of a solid, Thermal expansion, Crystal lattices, Primitive, conventional and Wigner-Seitz unit cells, Simple 3D crystal structures, Miller indices, Reciprocal lattice, Brillouin zone, Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, Types of magnetism, Magnetic properties of a two-electron system: singlet and triplet states, Exchange interaction, Heisenberg Hamiltonian, Spin waves in a 1D Heisenberg ferromagnet

Literature

• Charles Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2005
• Neil W. Ashcroft & N. David Mermin, Solid State Physics, Saunders College Publishing, 1976
• Steven H. Simon, The Oxford Solid State Basics, Oxford University Press, 2013

Last Updated: Nov 22, 2023