Physics 423: Introduction to Solid State Physics. 
Autumn 2007

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 - 10:50 am, Room PAA-A110

Professor Marjorie Olmstead Office: PAB B433 Phone: 685-3031
Office Hours: Tu-Th 11:00 - 11:30 and by appointment E-mail: olmstd@u.washington.edu

Teaching Assistant Kregg Philpott Office:  Phone:
Office Hour:  E-mail: kreggp@u.washington.edu

Course Web Page:

http://courses.washington.edu/ph122mo/A07

Course Material

This course encompasses an introduction to solid-state physics. The emphasis will be on the basic building blocks of the structural, thermal and electrical properties of perfect crystals.  Examples relevant to nanotechnology will be used whenever appropriate, with emphasis on semiconductor devices and low dimensionality. The first 2-3 weeks will be spent on crystal binding and structure, followed by 2-3 weeks on the motional properties of atoms in crystals. The next 3 weeks will address how electrons behave in the presence of these ordered atoms, with particular emphasis on semiconductors. After Thanksgiving, we will spend one week on semiconductor heterostructures, nanostructures and devices, and one week on either magnetic or optical properties, depending on class interest.

Textbook and reference texts

The required text is Introduction to Solid State Physics, 8th Edition by C. Kittel (ISSP).  If you are using an older edition, please check page and problem numbers with someone who has the 8th edition.  The text is designed for a full year course; as this course is only one quarter, we will just cover the first 8-9 chapters in detail. The book splits neatly at this point, since the second half of the book concentrates on special topics that are independent of each other, but require the first 9 chapters. In general, you will find Kittel to be quite dense and terse, and you may wish to consult other texts, as well.

Other texts you might want to consult:

C. Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics (QC171 K5 1996). The text for this course. Itâs a bit terse, but the important results are all there. It has good references to further literature.

N. W. Ashcroft and N. D. Mermin, Solid State Physics (QC176 .A83). The order of the chapters is different from Kittel and most other texts. You will find considerably more detail, both mathematically and contextually, than the material in Kittel. Mermin claims this is "the world's funniest solid state physics text," and that he wrote it for an undergraduate course.

J. S. Blakemore, Solid State Physics (QC176 .B63 1985). This book was designed for a 1 quarter course, and only contains the essentials. It is more qualitative than Kittel.

R. Dalven, Introduction to Applied Solid State Physics (QC176 .D24 1990). This book concentrates on semiconductor and superconductor device physics. You may find it useful in researching paper topics.

H. Ibach and H. Lüth, Solid State Physics: an introduction to theory and experiment (QC176 .I2313 1991). This book is quite mathematical in description of basic phenomena, but does perhaps the best job at incorporating modern experimental results into the text.

K. Barnham and D. Vvedensky, Low-dimensional Semiconductor Structures.  This book emphasizes the role of reduced dimensionality in altering the properties of crystals.

Prerequisites

Math: The most important mathematical concept in solid state physics is the Fourier transform. If this is unfamiliar to you, you should spend some time early in the quarter to learn it. We will also make frequent use of vectors and vector calculus; we will solve simple differential equations and make frequent use of complex numbers.

Physics: Solid State Physics involves a combination of Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics where the primary forces are Electrodynamic.  Junior level Quantum Mechanics (324) and Electrodynamics (321-322) are official prerequisites for this class; a quite useful course is Statistical Physics (328). Concepts from QM which we will use freely include wavefunctions and Schrödinger's equation, particle in a box, simple harmonic oscillators, fermions and bosons, space and momentum representations.  This is also covered in a good Physical Chemistry course.

There is no laboratory officially associated with this course, but the concurrent advanced laboratory, Physics 431, takes examples from condensed matter physics and fits in well with the class.

Lectures

A tentative schedule for the quarter indicating the material to be covered in lecture is linked here.  To enhance both your understanding of the lectures and your ability to ask questions in class, you should read the required material the weekend before it is listed on the syllabus.

Lectures will NOT cover everything in the book for which you are responsible: you are expected to read and learn simple concepts on your own, as exemplified by homework problems. Also, due to time constraints, we will be skipping material in the book which you may find interesting enough to read on your own.

Homework

There will be 8 homework assignments. They will be due at 5 pm (see syllabus for dates -- on Tuesday's before the first midterm, and on Thursday's afterwards --  and will include both text problems and additional problems. You are welcome to work together on homework assignments, but each person must write up and turn in the problems individually.  Solutions will be posted on the web after all the homework is collected.

Exams

There will be two midterms in the course, tentatively scheduled for Thursday Oct. 18 and Tuesday, Nov 20.  They will be designed for 50 minutes (not 80), and there may be lecture the remainder of the period.  Let Prof. Olmstead know about conflicts during the first week of class.  The first midterm will cover chapters 1-3 and parts of 17 and 18.  The second will cover chapters 4-7 (plus what is built on from the first midterm).

The final exam will be on Wednesday, December 12 from 10:30 am - 12:20 pm; it will cover the entire course, with emphasis material since the second midterm.

You should bring a calculator and a sheet of paper with notes to each exam.

Grading

Your grade will be calculated as follows.  Homework is worth 25%, and exams are worth 75%.  Your exam grade is the highest of (MT1 + MT2 + FINAL), (MT1 + 2*FINAL) or (MT2 + 2*FINAL) (i.e., drop the lowest of either midterm or half the final)

Cheating will not be tolerated in this class. This is in your own best interest: The time to face reality about whether or not you belong in a physics or engineering career should neither be postponed by an abnormally high grade obtained by cheating, nor accelerated by the abnormally low grade obtained when you are caught.

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