Course content

Atomic structure; Order and disorder, Lattices and unit cells, Crystal directions and planes, Non-crystalline structures, Interatomic bonding, Van der Waals solids, Metallic solids, Ionic solids, Covalent solids, Symmetry, Reciprocal space, Brillouin zones, Structure determination. Lattice vibrations; The continuum approximation, Vibrations of periodic systems, Quantization of vibrational modes: Phonons, Crystal momentum, Heat capacity, Anharmonicity. Static electron systems; Free electron gas, Fermi-Dirac distribution, Electrons in periodic solids, Nearly-free-electron model, Brillouin zones and energy bands, Tight-binding approximation. Dynamic electron systems; Free-electron gas, Periodic solids, Intrinsic semiconductors, Extrinsic semiconductors. Dia- and paramagnetism, ferro- and antiferromagnetism.

Learning outcome

Students should gain basic knowledge of solid state physics - crystal structures, diffraction and reciprocal lattice, bonding in crystals, phonons and thermal properties of materials, free electron model, energy bands and semiconductors.
This means that the students should
- know and recognize the different crystal structures and understand basic crystallography
- know how we study crystalline materials with diffraction, know what Brillouin zones, Ewald sphere and scattering amplitudes are
- learn what a reciprocal lattice is and how we use it
- know about different types of bonding in materials
- know what phonons are and be able to find dispersion relations for one-dimensional lattices
- learn about heat capacity and the different thermal properties related to phonons
- learn about the free electron model
- understand weak periodic potentials and the introduction of Bloch functions
- understand energy bands, energy gaps and semiconductors, learn about pn-junctions and principles of semiconductor technology
- know what a Fermi surface is, and principles of how to find such.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures, home work problems and mandatory laboratory exercises. A re-sit examination may be changed from written to oral.

Compulsory assignments

• Laboratory exercises

Recommended previous knowledge

Some knowledge of physics, mathematics and chemistry.

Course materials

Charles Kittel: Introduction to solid state physics, 8th ed., Wiley.

Credit reductions