Department of Physics and
Astronomy
PHY 525
Fall 2005
I. The
Course
Instructor: Kwok-Wai Ng
Office
CP 385
Telephone
7-1782
Office hour: Monday
Time: Monday, Wednesday
Place: CP 183
Text book: Introduction to Solid State Physics, 8th
edition
Charles
Kittel
Published
by John Wiley in 2005.
II. Goal
Solid state physics is
the study of properties of matter in solid phase. To form a solid, the atoms are not free to
move with respect to each other as in liquid or gas. They can form a periodic crystal, or
non-periodic structure, depending on the conditions of synthesis. We will mostly consider crystalline materials
in this class. The electrons in the
solid will distribute accordingly and give rise to a variety of interesting
material properties and phenomena. You
have learned in PHY 524 on how these electrons behave as independent entities
in the periodic crystal potential. In
this class, we will pay more attention to the interaction among these electrons
and also the interaction between these electrons and other particles like
photons and phonons. These interactions
can give rise to many interesting phenomena such as superconductivity. Many of these phenomena have also lead to
breakthrough in modern technologies. The
goal of this course is to introduce you to some of these interesting phenomena
and understand the physics behind.
Many students have
already acquired basic knowledge in crystal structure, electron bands and
phonons in PHY 524. Following the
textbook, the present course is organized into five major topics according to
the physical properties of materials: (i) mechanical properties (ii) thermal
properties (iii) electrical properties, (iv) optical properties and (v)
magnetic properties.
III. Grading
Policy
There will be about
one homework set of six to seven problems every week. The homework is due on the dates
indicated. Late homework will not be
accepted. The solutions handed in should
be complete and comprehensive. They
should also be neat and legible, with the solutions presented in an ordered and
logical fashion. Solutions not
satisfying these criteria will suffer a severe reduction in grade. The homework will count for 30% of your total
grade. Each homework problem will be
weighted equally.
There will be two
hourly tests, listed in the class schedule below. Each test will contribute 20% towards your
total grade. This component will
therefore constitute 40% of the final grade.
The tests will cover all materials covered prior to their schedule
dates, but after the previous test. This
material will include what is covered in the readings, in the lectures, and in
the assigned homework.
There will be a two
hours final examination that will be comprehensive, covering all materials
studied in this course this semester.
This final examination will constitute 30% of your final grade. The examination will take place on Monday,
December 12, from
In general, all tests
and the final examination will be closed book.
You will need to bring your own scientific calculator, and your own
writing tools. You are not allowed to use
any programs stored in the memory of the calculator.
Homework 30%
Test
I 20%
Test
II 20%
Final
Examination 30%
Total 100%
Undergraduate and graduate students will have the same homework and examinations. However, graduate student work will be examined for greater comprehension.
IV. Course
evaluation
Course
evaluations are an important (and mandatory!) component of our Department's
instructional program. An on-line course evaluation system was developed to
allow each student ample time to evaluate each component of the course and instructor,
thus providing the Department with meaningful numerical scores and detailed
commentary while minimizing the loss of instructional time in the classroom.
The evaluation window for Fall 2005 will open on
IV. Class
schedule
We will not have a fix
schedule on the materials to be covered, but the topics will be introduced in
the following order:
I. Mechanical properties
Chapter 1
Chapter 2 Wave diffraction and the reciprocal
lattice
Chapter 3
Chapter
20 Point
defects
Chapter 21 Dislocations
II. Thermal properties
Chapter 4
Chapter 5. Phonons II. Thermal properties
III.
Electrical properties
Chapter 6 Free electron Fermi Gas
Chapter 7 Energy bands
Chapter 9 Fermi surfaces and metals
Chapter 8 Semiconductor
crystals
Chapter 17 Surface and interface physics
Chapter 18 Nanostructure
Chapter 10 Superconductivity
IV. Optical properties
Chapter 14 Plasmons, Ppolaritons, and polarons
Chapter 15 Optical process and Excitons
Chapter 16 Dielectrics and ferroelectrics
V. Magnetic properties
Chapter 11 Diamagnetism and paramagnetism
Chapter 12 Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism
Chapter 13 Magnetic resonance
We will only briefly
review materials in chapter 1 to chapter 7.
Dec 12 (M) Final
examination.