Band Theory and Electronic Properties of Solids (Oxford Master Series in Condensed Matter Physics)

This book covers the important topic of band theory and electronic properties of materials. It is intended to be used by final-year undergraduates and firstyear graduate students studying condensed matter physics as part of a physics or engineering degree. It may also be used as preparatory material for students starting a doctorate in condensed matter physics or semiconductor devices, or for recent graduates starting research in these fields in industry. This book provides an introduction to band theory and the electronic properties of materials at a level suitable for final-year undergraduates or first-year graduate students. It sets out to provide the vocabulary and quantum-mechanical training necessary to understand the electronic, optical and structural properties of the materials met in science and technology and describes some of the experimental techniques which are used to study band structure today. In order to leave space for recent developments, the Drude model and the introduction of quantum statistics are treated synoptically. However, Bloch's theorem and two tractable limits, a very weak periodic potential and the tight-binding model, are developed rigorously and in three dimensions. Having introduced the ideas of bands, effective masses and holes, semiconductor and metals are treated in some detail, along with the newer ideas of artificial structures such as super-lattices and quantum wells, layered organic substances and oxides. Some recent `hot topics'in research are covered, e.g. the fractional Quantum Hall Effect and nano-devices, which can be understood using the techniques developed in the book. In illustrating examples of e.g. the de Haas-van Alphen effect, the book focuses on recent experimental data, showing that the field is a vibrant and exciting one. References to many recent review articles are provided, so that the student can conduct research into a chosen topic at a deeper level. Several appendices treating topics such as phonons and crystal structure make the book self-contained introduction to the fundamentals of band theory and electronic properties in condensed matter physic today.
This latest text in the new Oxford Master Series in Physics provides a much need introduction to band theory and the electronic properties of materials. Written for students in physics and material science, the book takes a pedagogical approach to the subject through the extensive use of illustrations, examples and problem sets. The author draws on his extensive experience teaching band theory to provide the reader with a thorough understanding of the field. Considerable attention is paid to the vocabulary and quantum-mechanical training necessary to learn about the electronic, optical and structural properties of materials in science and technology. The text also offers several chapters on the newest experimental techniques used to study band structure. Concise yet rigorous, it fills a long overdue gap between student texts and current research activities. This textbook for advanced physics and engineering students begins by introducing two tractable limits of Bloch's theorem in three dimensions, and demonstrates that both extreme limits give rise to bands with band gaps between them. Singleton (physics, Oxford) then explains semiconductors bands, the idea of artificial structures, techniques used to measure the bandstructures of solids, and recent research in the field. The discovery of the electron just over a century ago was a turning point in the study of condensed matter physics. John Singleton. Includes Bibliographical Material And Index.