Welcome to MSE 4109

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Wahidur Rahman Sajal
Lecturer, Department of MSE
KUET, Bangladesh
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 The understanding of the behavior of electrons
in solids is one of the keys to understanding
material properties.

 Three approaches have been developed during

the past hundred years to understanding
material properties.

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 Continum theory
 In the 19th century, a phenomenological
description of the experimental observation
was widely used.

 The laws which were enentually discovered

were empirically derived.

 Continum theory considered only macroscopic

quantites and interrelated experimental data.

 No assumptions were made about the

structure of matter when the equations were
formulated. Examples: Ohm’s law, Newton’s
law, etc. 4
 Classical free electron theory

 At the turn of 20th century, atomistic

principles indroduced into the description of
matter

 Paul Drude postulated that “free electrons in

metals drift as a response to an external
force and interact with certain lattice atoms.”

 Treated electrons only as particle and light as

wave

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 Quantum theory
 At the beginning of 20th century, quantum
theory able to explain important experimental
observations which could not by classical
means.

 Now electrons are not only particles- they are

also waves and same as light

 It introduced some basic concepts of quantum

mechanics : Schrodinger’s wave equation and
electron wave function

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Fundamentals of Electron Theory
Classical free electron theory
 Quantum Theory

Electronic Properties of Materials

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Reference Books
1. Electronic properties of engineering materials
by James D. Livingston
2. Electronic properties of materials (4th edition)
by Rolf E. Hummel
3. Semiconductor Physics and Devices:
Basic Principles (4th Edition) by Donald A.Neamen

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 Electronic Properties of Materials Syllabus-
1. Introduction ( Hummel chapter 1)
2. Conductors & Resistors (Livingston chapter 2)
3. Insulators and Capacitors (Livingston chapter 3)
4. The wave particle duality ( Hummel chapter 2)
5. The Schrodinger Equation ( Hummel chapter 3)
6. Solution of the Schrodinger Equation (hand out + Neamen 2.3
section)
7. The periodic table and atomic spectra (Livingston chapter 9 -
9.1;9.2;9.3)
8. Introduction to the Quantum Theory of Solids (Neamen
chapter 3- 3.1;3.2;3.3; 3.5)
9. Electrical Properties of Polymers, Ceramics, Dielectrics, and
Amorphous Materials (Hummel chapter 9)
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