2018 Introduction

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Chapter 1
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Introduction
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This chapter begins, in Sec. 1.1, with a survey of the different phases of matter.
The particles in a gas are located at random positions; in a liquid (or in a glass)
there is a larger statistical probability to find pairs of particles for which the two
members are at a certain distance from one another, and in the crystalline solids
the particles are arranged on a periodic lattice. The information on the particles’
locations is encapsulated in the correlation function that quantifies the probability
to find pairs of particles at a given distance in-between them. This book explains
the fundamental concepts needed to describe the physics of such many-body sys-
tems, with examples focusing mainly on periodic solids (i.e., crystals), that are the
energetically-favored structures at low temperatures. The understanding of crys-
talline structures explains the wide range of solid materials’ properties, and paves
the way to the development of advanced technologies.
Carbon appears in Nature in many versatile periodic structures, that exist in
three spatial dimensions, but also in two dimensions (planar formations), in one di-
mension (chain-like networks) and also in zero dimensions (large molecules). These
structures are described in Sec. 1.2, exemplifying many of the structures encoun-
tered in the subsequent Chapters.
Section 1.3 outlines the contents of the book’s chapters: the explanation of
crystalline structures, the description of experimental methods for identifying them,
the analysis of the binding energies determining those structures, the discussion of
the atoms’ vibrations in the crystal, and the derivation of the electronic properties
of solids.
1.1 What is the nature of the solid state?
The physics of the solid state is concerned with systems comprising a very large
number of atoms or molecules; attractive forces cause them to occupy a finite volume
in space, in a rigid formation. The physical laws that govern these forces are based
on the theories of mechanics, electricity, and quantum mechanics. The large
number of atoms requires also the application of the laws of statistical mechanics.
1
2 Introduction to Solid-State Physics
The same microscopic laws lead to the formation of various arrangements of atoms
(or molecules) in the (macroscopic) solid, and thus to a variety of physical properties.
The theory of the solid state aims to explain the way in which the same physical laws
give rise to widely-disparate physical properties. For instance, why are certain solids
good electrical conductors (i.e., metals), while others are electrically insulating, or
inversely, superconductors? Why are there transparent materials that allow the
passage of light (or sound), and materials that reflect the light (or sound) waves
impinging on them? Why are certain materials rigid, and others are soft? How
does it happen that certain solids possess magnetic properties and others possess
ferroelectric (i.e., comprising electric dipole moments) ones?
The theory of solid-state physics not only explains materials found in Nature,
but also enables the development of novel materials that can be used in new
technologies. Conspicuous examples from the previous century include the ad-
vent of transistors, of integrated circuits and microelectronics, of magnetic mem-
ories, and more. The history of solid-state physics begins with the discoveries of
von Laue and Bragg (the father and the son) related to the periodic diffraction pat-
terns created by X-ray scattering off solid crystals (Chapter 3). Other important
milestones are the explanation of the properties of electrons moving in the periodic
potential of crystals, given by Bloch (Chapter 6), the discovery of the transistor by
Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley, the understanding of magnetism by Néel, Ander-
son, and van Vleck (Chapters 2, 4, and 6), the discovery of superconductivity by
Kammerlingh-Onnes and its explanation by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer, the
theory of Josephson, and the experiments of Giaver et al. on tunneling between
superconductors. More recent developments, taking place in the last 40 years,
include the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, the discovery of super-
conductivity at high temperatures, of systems possessing giant magneto-resistances,
of quasicrystals, of the graphene films, of topological phases, and of the quantum
Hall effect. Several of these important topics are surveyed in this book. Many of
the physical examples given in the following Chapters are related to materials and
properties that have been discovered only recently.
Phases of matter. Very crudely speaking, matter can assume one of the
three states or phases: at high temperatures materials are in the gaseous state,
in which the atoms or the molecules are moving freely in the vessel containing
them, filling it randomly and homogeneously. The knowledge of the location of a
certain atom conveys no information about the locations of the others; the average
density of the gas is determined by the ratio of the number of atoms and the vessel’s
volume. (At much higher temperatures there appears the plasma state, in which
atoms are disintegrated into nuclei and electrons.) As the temperature is reduced, it
eventually reaches the boiling temperature, where the material separates into a
denser portion, called liquid, and another portion, the vapor of that material, which
behaves as a gas. This is the gas-liquid phase transition. Due to gravity, the
denser fluid fills the lower part of the vessel. The surface tension of the liquid causes
Introduction 3
the formation of a film separating the fluid from the gas above it. The liquid is not
rigid, and adjusts itself to the shape of the vessel; it is easily deformed. As in the
gaseous phase, the location of a certain atom in the liquid state has no one-to-one
correspondence with the other atoms’ locations; however, there exists a probabilistic
relation among these locations. As the temperature is decreased further it reaches

the melting temperature, at which the liquid-solid phase transition takes
place. At low temperatures almost all materials become solids. The solid state
is a rigid configuration of the atoms or molecules, where their motion is restricted;
at most they vibrate slightly around their equilibrium positions. A well-known
example for transitions among the various phases is provided by water: at ambient
pressure, water (which is a liquid) freezes and solidifies into ice below 0◦ Celsius,
and turns into aqueous vapour above 100◦ Celsius. (The two temperatures are
defined as the melting and boiling temperatures, and build the temperature scale
of Celsius). These temperatures vary with pressure; e.g., under higher pressures it
is harder for the molecules to turn into a gas, causing the boiling temperature to
rise. Below we mention more phases of matter.
Forces among atoms (or molecules). The various forces operating among
the atoms (or molecules) in the solid state are discussed in Chapter 4. Ubiquitously,
the potential energy, V , that gives rise to the force between a pair of particles,
depends on the distance between the particles , r, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1. At short
distances, the derivative (with respect to r) of the potential energy is negative and
hence the force is repulsive, preventing the particles from approaching too closely
one another. At larger distances the derivative is positive and the force is attractive.
The force vanishes at the minimum of the potential energy, r = rm . Classically,
(i.e., ignoring possible oscillations around the minimum) the point r = rm marks
the equilibrium configuration of the pair.
A simple description of a large ensemble of particles is based on the assumption
that the force operating between each pair of them is derived form the potential
energy displayed in Fig. 1.1. Initially the particles are located at random positions,
keeping the density as dictated by the number of particles divided by the volume of
the container. An initial velocity, of a random magnitude and a random direction, is
assigned to each particle; these velocities are chosen from a probability distribution
that depends on the temperature and is found according to the laws of statistical
mechanics. One then solves the Newtonian equations of motion to obtain (numer-
ically) the particles’ locations at later times. This method is named “molecular
dynamics”. Allowing the computer code to run a long enough time, the system
presumably achieves its equilibrium configuration. Figure 1.2 shows three instanta-
neous snapshots obtained by this procedure, pertaining to three different densities.
Each particle is represented by a sphere of a finite radius, to emphasize the repulsion
among the particles that prevents them from approaching each other (the spheres
cannot penetrate one into the other). At equilibrium the instantaneous snapshots
taken at different times are qualitatively the same; they are statistically similar.

Fig. 1.1: Schematic plot of the potential energy of a pair of particles as a function
of the distance in-between them (details in Chapter 4).
Fig. 1.2: Instantaneous snapshots taken from molecular-dynamics simula-

tions of 500 particles, whose pair potential-energy is that of Fig. 1.1.
The panels differ by the density of the particles: 0.01 (right panel), 0.5
(mid panel), and 1 (left panel). The density varies following variations
of the vessel volume. Calculations by C. R. Iacovella and S. C. Glotzer.
Taken from http://web.archive.org/web/20071007200029/http://matdl.org/
matdlwiki/index.php/softmatter:Radial_Distribution_Function, by permis-
sion of Prof. S. C. Glotzer, University of Michigan.
The correlation function. The different panels in Fig. 1.2 correspond (from
right to left) to the phases of gas, liquid, and solid. A quantitative way to distinguish
among these phases is based on the radial correlation function. This function is
computed as follows. Locating the origin at the center of a certain particle in each
instantaneous snapshot, one finds the number of all other particles whose centers
are within a sphere of a radius r around the origin. (The entire sphere is located
Introduction 5
within the vessel containing the particles.) Then one finds the number of particles
in a slightly larger sphere, whose radius is r + Δr (also contained in the vessel).
The difference between the two numbers, ΔN , is the number of particles in the
spherical shell of volume 4πr2 Δr, and the density in that shell is ΔN/(4πr2 Δr).
This density is the probability density to find two particles separated by

a distance r. This procedure is repeated, applied on spherical shells centered
around other particles, on various instantaneous snapshots, and for different initial
velocities (but with the same spatial density and the same velocity distribution).
One then averages the results over all snapshots, to obtain the radial correlation
function
ΔN
g(r) = , (1.1)
4πr2 Δr
where the angular brackets denote the average. In a similar fashion, the correlation
function of a two-dimensional system is derived from the particles’ density in a cir-
cular layer around a center of a certain particle in the plane, g(r) = ΔN/(2πrΔr).
Chapter 3 describes radiation scattering off material samples; it is shown there
that the intensity of the scattered radiation is directly related to the Fourier trans-
form of the correlation function.
Gas. Figure 1.3 displays the correlation functions computed for the snapshots
shown in Fig. 1.2. In all cases the correlation function is rather small at short
distances, as the particles are prohibited from approaching each other too closely
(due to the repulsion among them). The correlation function in the left panel of Fig.
1.3 has a single peak at a distance that approximately corresponds to the minimum
of the potential energy of pairs of particles (see Fig. 1.1). At larger distances,
the probability to find another particle does not vary with r and remains constant.
This is typical for a gas. The peak indicates that momentarily, the probability to
find pairs of particles separated by the optimal distance is higher, owing to the fact
that this yields a lower potential energy. Nonetheless, the correlation function does
not convey any information about the relative locations of all other particles. As
mentioned, one cannot predict the relative locations of all other particles (situated
at distances far larger than rm ) from the location of a certain particle.
Liquid. In the mid panel of Fig. 1.2 the particles are much denser (as compared
to the gaseous phase) and their motion is rather confined in space, though it is
not completely blocked. The correlation function in the mid panel of Fig. 1.3
displays several broad peaks: these imply that around each particle there are several
spherical layers in which the density of atoms exceeds its average value. Such a
correlation function corresponds to a liquid. As opposed to the gaseous state, for
which there are no correlations among the particles’ locations, in the liquid state
there are different probabilities for various separations between pairs of particles.
The leftmost peak in the correlation function of the liquid resembles that of the
gas; the next one represents particles that are neighbors to those featuring in the
first peak, and so on.
Glass. When the motion of particles as those exhibited in the mid panel of Fig.
1.2 is stopped abruptly (by reducing precipitously their velocities, an operation
equivalent to a sudden reduction of the temperature), the particles “freeze” in their
instantaneous positions, and attain a random pattern, typical to glasses and to
amorphous materials.
Ordered solid. As opposed to the mid panel of Fig. 1.2, most of the particles
in the right panel there are arranged in a periodic pattern: the surroundings
of all particles are identical and the entire structure repeats itself when translated
from one particle to the other. Ordered rows of spheres touching one another
can be discerned in the right panel in Fig. 1.2; generally, each sphere (particle) is
surrounded by six others, located at equal distances away from it. The mathematical
definitions of periodic lattices (also called crystals) are discussed in Chapter

2. It is shown there that the periodic arrangement displayed in the right panel
of Fig. 1.2 is the densest one possible for adjacent spheres arranged on a plane
(see Fig. 2.3), and the densest spatial ordering is built of such planes (the upper row
in Fig. 2.24). As each neighbor of a certain sphere in the plane is also surrounded by
six others, and so on, the entire planar structure is uniquely defined; the locations
of all spheres can be predicted given the positions of a few of them around a central
one (ignoring the small oscillations of each sphere around its equilibrium position).
The same is true in three dimensions, where each particle is surrounded by 12
neighbor particles. Consequently, the correlation function in the right panel of Fig.
1.3 contains many peaks; the intervals in-between them correspond to the spherical
shells in the ordered structure. The peaks become narrower as the sample volume
is increased and the statistics is improved. This is the description of a crystalline
solid, the main issue of the present textbook. In particular, it is found in Chapter
3 that each periodic structure has its own correlation function, that can be uniquely
identified from the data collected by scattering radiation off the material; such
experiments measure the Fourier transform of this correlation function.
Fig. 1.3: The radial correlation function (normalized such that it approaches 1 at
large distances; the radial distance is 1 for r = rm ), for the instantaneous snapshots
depicted in Fig. 1.2. Taken from the same source as in Fig. 1.2.
Order and disorder. The right panel in Fig. 1.2 displays a well-organized
pattern, in which the particles are located on a periodic crystal. In contrast, there
Introduction 7
is no definite order of the particles’ locations shown in the other two panels there.
At low temperatures the total energy, E, of the periodically-ordered structure is the
lowest. Any deviation away from this order increases the energy. As the temperature
is raised, the particles move faster, and more arrangements of them become possible.
This, in turn, gives rise to an increase in the entropy, S; the entropy is related
to the number of possible configurations of the system at a given energy, and it
increases as that number grows. At any temperature T the system is in the state
which has the minimal free energy, F = E −T S. As the temperature is raised, the
entropy term becomes more dominant and can reduce the free energy, even though
the energy is raised. Therefore, following the increase in the entropy, the amount
of disorder in the system increases as well. In this way one may understand the
transitions from solid to liquid, and from liquid to gas. At times these transitions
are referred to as order-disorder phase transitions.
Quantum fluctuations (i.e., random changes or oscillations), like those of a har-
monic oscillator even in its quantum ground state, can also lead to disorder. These
fluctuations are quite significant in helium (because of the low mass of the helium
atom), and consequently at atmospheric pressure helium remains in the liquid state
(and even in the viscosity-free superfluid state, a unique phase by itself) down
to very low temperatures. Hydrogen is lighter than helium, but since the bonds
among hydrogen atoms are stronger than those in helium (whose electronic “shells”
are full, forbidding the passage of electrons from one atom to the other), hydrogen
does solidify at about 13◦ K, or −260◦ C. The various bonds among atoms and
the way they affect the specific structure of the material are discussed in Chapter
4. Interestingly enough, in two dimensions the oscillations of the atoms around
their equilibrium locations destroy the long-range periodic structure; the periodic
crystalline structure is then replaced by topological phases (see Sec. 5.5; these
unique phases are currently at the forefront of the research in condensed matter).
Periodic solids vs. glasses. When the motion of all particles is halted,
the resulting pattern is that of a glass; it resembles the one in the mid panel of
Fig. 1.2. This is an extreme example of a non-periodic solid. Window glass is
created upon suddenly cooling liquid silicone oxide, SiO2 . Cooling abruptly this
material causes the particles (atoms or molecules) to freeze in their random posi-
tions, acquiring the same amorphous formation they had in the liquid state. At low
temperatures, the free energy of this state is higher than that of the periodically-
ordered solid. However, in order to reach the ideal periodic pattern corresponding
to the lower temperature, the particles have to re-arrange themselves. Numerical
molecular-dynamics studies indicate that this is not easily accomplished: each par-
ticle is captured at a local minimum of the free energy, and needs to overcome a
potential barrier in order to move away from it. The material therefore remains in
a state of a free energy higher than the “correct” (i.e., thermodynamic) one of that
temperature; this is a meta-stable state. The lifetime of this state, that is, the
duration of time until the true thermodynamic state is reached, is extremely long
at low temperatures (for instance, that of window glass is hundreds of years), and
therefore this state appears as a stable one during typical experimentally-accessible
times. Figure 1.4(a) exhibits the amorphous arrangement of silicone and oxygen
ions in a two-dimensional sample of glass. This structure differs qualitatively from
the periodic structure displayed in Fig. 1.4(b). Periodic crystals of SiO2 are ob-
tained by melting the glass, and then cooling it slowly enough to allow the particles
ample time to reach their optimal arrangement. Certain ceramic materials, as well
as alloys of metals (e.g., steel) also attain amorphous patterns.
Quasicrystals. There are alloys (e.g., stainless steel) that arrange themselves
in a periodic pattern of their constituents; others freeze in a non-periodic structure.
But surprisingly enough, when the cooling rate is neither too slow nor too abrupt,
the resulting solid is found in an intermediate phase, named quasicrystalline. The

order of the ions in this phase is not periodic; however, their pattern does possess
unique symmetries – quasicrystal show certain phenomena also found in periodic
crystals (see Secs. 2.8 and 3.11).
Condensed matter. Solids can be crystalline, as in the left panel of Fig.
1.2 and in Fig. 1.4(b), or amorphous, as in the mid panel of Fig. 1.2 and in
Fig. 1.4(a). In addition to the liquid and solid states, materials can assume other
phases, for instance that of liquid crystals, which are built of two-dimensional
parallel layers, with freely-moving molecules on each of them; polymers, i.e., very
long, practically one-dimensional molecules, moving freely in space; membranes,
that are two-dimensional surfaces oscillating along the normal to their plane, and
more. These phases that comprise properties of liquids and solids, are included in
the (relatively novel) scientific discipline called condensed-matter physics. The
present book discusses mainly periodic solids, like the one shown in the left panel
of Fig. 1.2; this is part of condensed-matter physics (see also Sec. 7.2).
The periodic table. Many of the specific examples discussed in this book
refer to crystals based on atoms, i.e., on elements. The disparities and similarities
among the various elements follow from their respective locations in the periodic
table, displayed in Fig. 1.5. The entries in this table contain the atomic number
of the element (below the letter indicating its name) and its atomic weight (above
that letter). The different hues indicate the melting temperature of the crystal
built of each element. As seen, the melting temperatures of the noble gases (in the
right column of the table) are rather low. In contrast, the melting temperature of
diamond, built of carbon atoms, is very high. The melting temperature is higher
when the binding energy of the crystal (the energy released as the material is
transformed from the gaseous state to the liquid one) is larger. Binding energies
are calculated in Chapter 4; the different values obtained for them explain the
disparity in the melting temperatures of various elemental crystals. The periodic
table reappears also in other contexts: Fig. 2.22 of Chapter 2 displays the lattice
structures of the crystalline elements; Fig. 6.24 of Chapter 6 identifies their electrical
properties (i.e., metals, insulators, etc.). Beside atomic crystals, there exist more
Introduction 9
(a) (b)
Fig. 1.4: Amorphous (a) and periodic (b) arrangements of silicone ions (full circles)
and oxygen ones (empty circles) in two-dimensional SiO2 . Top panels: theoretical
models; lower panels: scanning electron microscope (see Sec. 3.1) measurements
of a single layer absorbed on a graphite substrate (see the next section). Each
silicone atom is connected to an additional oxygen atom, located below the plane
of the picture, so that each Si is coupled to two O’s. [P. Y. Huang, S. Kurasch, A.
Srivastava, V. Skakalova, J. Kotakoski, A. V. Krasheninnkov, R. Hovden, Q. Mao,
J. C. Meyer, J. Smet, and U. Keiser, Direct imaging of a two-dimensional silica
glass on graphene, Nano Lett. 12, 1081 (2012).]
complex crystals composed of several atoms; an example is table salt, comprising

ions of sodium and ions of chlorine, depicted in the right panel of Fig. 2.17. The
structures of such crystals are related to the effective radii of the constituent ions
(and these in turn are determined by the wave functions of the electrons in each
ion); these are shown in Fig. 4.6 of Chapter 4.
1.2 The spatial dimensions
Solid phases. The periodic crystalline phase is quite versatile: certain materials
may appear in various structural formations, that have divers properties. These
are called polymorphs, and are different phases of the same solid material.
For instance, to date there are sixteen(!) disparate periodic structures of ice, some
of them discovered only recently. The beautiful patterns of snow flakes are related

Fig. 1.5: The periodic table. The various hues indicate the melting temperatures
of the elements, according to the scale above (darker hues correspond to higher
melting temperatures). Created by Atomic PC, see http:/www.blackcatsystems.
com/software/periodic-table-of-the-elements-software.html.
to several of these phases (see Fig. 4.29 of Chapter 4). Temperature or pressure
variations, (i.e., changes in the energy and in the entropy) lead to transitions among
the various phases, and hence to modifications in the material properties; e.g.,
from an insulator to a conductor and even to a superconductor (whose electrical
resistance vanishes at low enough temperatures), from a non magnetic substance to
a ferromagnet that has a finite magnetic moment (like that of the compass needle),
from a dielectric material to a ferroelectric one, which possesses an electric dipole
moment, and so on.
Carbon. Carbon appears in Nature in more than forty different structures; the
polymorphs of elements (like carbon) are called allotropes. Several of these are
surveyed in this section. In three dimensions, as explained in Chapter 2, there
are mainly two carbon allotropes: (1) the graphite (see the right panel of Fig. 2.9).
This structure comprises parallel planes, each contains a periodic array of hexagons
built of the carbon atoms (see Sec. 2.3). (2) When prepared under high pressures,
carbon has the diamond structure, shown in the left panel of Fig. 2.20. In this
configuration, each carbon atom is surrounded by four others, as displayed in Fig.
Introduction 11
4.14. Graphite is soft, and is a good electrical conductor, while diamond is hard
and is an insulator. Carbon attains more conformations, that can be characterized
by a smaller number of spatial dimensions. Chapter 4 details the covalent bonds
among the carbon atoms, which explain these various forms.
Graphene. In two dimensions, the carbon atoms form the structure shown
in Fig. 1.6 [see also Figs. 2.8(a) and 2.10]. This planar structure is identical to
one of the planes of graphite (shown in the right panel of Fig. 2.9). Graphene was
originally produced by peeling single-atom layer off graphite, using a sticky tape;
its unique properties are currently subjected to intensive research.
Fig. 1.6: Schematic illustration of the carbons in graphene.
One-dimensional allotropes of carbon. Carbon possesses several one-

dimensional periodic structures. Figures 1.7(a) and (b) depict two long molecules
of carbon. The cumulene, Fig. 1.7(a), is built of a periodic arrangement of carbon
atoms, with the same spacing between each two neighboring atoms. In the polyyne
[Fig. 1.7(b)] on the other hand, there are two types of bonds, marked by a single
line and by a triple line. These bonds alternate along the molecule, and therefore
the structure repeats itself after each second carbon. The formal definitions and
the descriptions of these arrangements are detailed in Chapter 2, and the electronic
configurations leading to them are analyzed in Chapter 4.
(a) (b)
Fig. 1.7: One-dimensional chains of carbon. (a) Cumulene; (b) polyyne.
One-dimensional allotropes of carbon can be also prepared by cutting graphene

into narrow ribbons or nano ribbons, of widths that comprise only a small
number of atoms. Figures 1.8(a) and (b) display two options for this cutting. The
structure on the cut (on the left side) in Fig. 1.8(a) is called armchair, and that
in Fig. 1.8(b) (again on the left hand-side) is called zigzag. Each carbon on the
cut has a “superfluous” electron, that can bind chemically a hydrogen atom.
(a) (b)
Fig. 1.8: Carbon nano ribbons. [P. S. E. Yeo, K. P. Loh, and C. K. Gan, Strain de-
pendence of the heat transport properties of graphene nano ribbons, Nanotechnology
23, 495702 (2012).]
Carbon nanotubes. When a ribbon of graphene (see Fig. 1.8) is folded, and
the two opposite edges are attached together (instead of coupling there hydrogen
atoms), a nanotube, Fig. 1.9(a), is created. This tube can be quite long. Nanotubes
draw currently vast interest due to their very unique transport properties.
Fullerene. Other big carbon molecules may assume a spherical shape, like
the molecule C60 shown in Fig. 1.9(b). It is called Buckyball, Buckminster-
fullerene, or fullerene, owing to its similarity to the spherical dome designed by
Buckminster-Fuller for the 1967 exhibition in Montreal. There exist also “half”
molecules of this type, connected at the end of a nanotube.
The spatial dimension. It is customary to define the spatial dimension of a
sample as the number of independent directions in space along which it is spanned
over long distances. The ideal periodic solid is infinitely long along each of its
dimensions. According to this definition, graphite and diamond are (spatially)
three dimensional, graphene is two dimensional, while the cumulene, polyyne, nano
ribbons and nanotubes are one-dimensional; the fullerene is just zero dimensional.
The properties of a solid are significantly affected by its spatial dimensions.
Nanotechnology. The present day highly-advanced facilities enable the pro-
duction of zero-, one-, and two-dimensional samples in the lab, and to exploit them
for various applications. At ultra-low temperatures and extremely small length
Introduction 13
(a) (b)
Fig. 1.9: (a) A carbon nanotube; (b) the Buckminsterfullerene molecule, or Bucky-
ball. The carbon atoms are situated at the junctions, so that each has three carbon
neighbors like in graphene.
scales, the electronic properties of such systems are dominated by quantum me-
chanics. Those samples are therefore termed quantum dots, quantum wires, and
two-dimensional electron gas, 2DEG, respectively. The branch of condensed-
matter physics centered on materials of low dimensions, in particular on small sam-
ples (of length scale in-between the macroscopic and the microscopic ones), is termed
“mesoscopic physics”. This field encompasses both basic research, focusing on
the physical properties (which are determined by quantum mechanics), and ap-
plied research, aiming to develop new technologies. As the size of these systems is
typically about nanometers (1 nanometer= 10−9 meter) this particular branch of
condensed-matter physics is called nanotechnology.
1.3 The present book
As mentioned, this book is centered primarily on the properties of periodic crys-

tals. The (almost) perfectly-periodic crystal is the structure that most materials
assume at very low temperatures. The discussion of its properties introduces the
basic concepts, required to grasp and appreciate more advanced topics. Here is a
terse survey of the following Chapters. Chapter 2 finds that only a finite num-
ber of crystalline formations is possible. Their comprehension allows for the
analysis of experiments in which X-rays, electrons or neutrons are scattered
off the solid material; in this way various crystalline patterns are uniquely identi-
fied (see Chapter 3). Moreover, such experiments convey valuable information on
the internal structure of each unit of the crystal. The fact that there is just a
finite number of crystalline conformations enables the calculation of the binding

energy (the energy released by creating the periodic solid from the gaseous state)
of each structure, given the forces operating among its constituents (Chapter 4).
It is thus possible to predict the crystalline formation of each material by calcu-
lating its lowest energy, the one achieved in the state where the constituents are
located on the junctions of the periodic structure. One has though to allow for
the thermal motion (at finite temperatures) and the quantum fluctuations of
the basic units around this state of minimal energy. These motions are at times
detrimental to the crystalline structure (like in helium or at two dimensions), and
cause eventually (as the temperature is raised) the transition to the liquid state.
They are also the source of the thermal and acoustic properties of solids (Chapter
5). Chapter 6 investigates the electronic properties of solid crystals. These are
determined mainly by the quantum-mechanical properties of electrons moving in a
periodic potential. The quantum-mechanics considerations allow one to derive the
electrical properties of various solids, and to distinguish among metals (conductors),
insulators, and semiconductors. Chapter 7 surveys certain advanced topics.

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July 4, 2018 17:35 ws-book975x65-961x669 Introduction to Solid state physics-BC-bk040 OURBOOK page 1

1.1 What is the nature of the solid state?

2 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

relation among these locations. As the temperature is decreased further it reaches

4 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

Fig. 1.2: Instantaneous snapshots taken from molecular-dynamics simula-

This density is the probability density to ﬁnd two particles separated by

6 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

deﬁnitions of periodic lattices (also called crystals) are discussed in Chapter

8 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

the resulting solid is found in an intermediate phase, named quasicrystalline. The

complex crystals composed of several atoms; an example is table salt, comprising

1.2 The spatial dimensions

10 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

Fig. 1.6: Schematic illustration of the carbons in graphene.

One-dimensional allotropes of carbon. Carbon possesses several one-

Fig. 1.7: One-dimensional chains of carbon. (a) Cumulene; (b) polyyne.

One-dimensional allotropes of carbon can be also prepared by cutting graphene

12 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

1.3 The present book

As mentioned, this book is centered primarily on the properties of periodic crys-

14 Introduction to Solid-State Physics

ﬁnite number of crystalline conformations enables the calculation of the binding

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