Physics 141B

S. G. Louie

Midterm Exam #2

Spring 2010
April 5, 2010

NOTE: This is a closed book exam. Two sheet of notes are allowed. Please do all 3 problems and note
that there is a total of 50 points and the problems are not of equal weight. Display your answers clearly
(e.g., in a box) and cross out any work that you do not wish to have graded.

1. (20 points) Answer the following questions briefly:

(a) (10 points) What are the Stokes and anti-Stokes lines in a Raman spectroscopy measurement.
How do the Raman cross-sections depend on the temperature of the sample? What is the physical
origin of this temperature dependence?
(b) (10 points) Sketch the current-voltage characteristics (i.e., the I vs.V behavior) at low
temperature (but not at zero) for single-particle tunneling between two superconductors with
energy gaps 1 and 2, respectively. Let us assume that 2 > 1 and that when the junction is
under zero bias the chemical potential is at the middle of the gap of both superconductors. Label
all relevant features on the I-V curve.

2. (15 points) A crystal is known to have a dielectric function () = 1() + i 2() whose imaginary
part is given to a very good approximation by 2() = A ( - 5 eV), in the q = 0 limit, as shown
schematically below.

(a) (7 points) Is this a metal, semiconductor, or insulator? Calculate the static ( = 0) dielectric
constant for this material from the above expression for 2(). [Hint: think in terms of the
Kramers-Kronig relations of a response function.]
(b) (5 points) Suppose that the carrier mass is m*= me and the carrier density is n = 1 x 1022 /cm3.
Evaluate the constant A for the above dielectric function. [Hint: consider the high frequency
behavior of which is 1() = 1 (p/)2]
(c) (3 points) What is the appearance of a bulk sample of the material in (b) to the human eye? Is it
transparent, metallic shiny, of a specific color, etc? Note that the visible spectrum is about 1.63.1 eV. Justify your answer.

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3. (15 points) For a conventional superconductor with carrier density n = 1021/cm3, Tc= 1 K, and m* =
me, find the following quantities numerically:
(a) (4 points) the London penetration depth at zero temperature (in Angstroms)
(b) (3 points) the superconducting energy gap (in eV). Within a factor of 2-3 is OK.
(c) (4 points) the coherence length at zero temperature, assuming a pure (not dirty) sample (in
Angstroms)
(d) (4 points) Is this material a type I or type II superconductor? Why?

END OF EXAM

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