Physics 4508

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Physics 4508: Winter 2015

Solid State Physics
This course provides an introduction to Solid State Physics. We will study crystal structure and binding,
phonons and lattice vibrations, electronic and transport properties of solids, semiconductors and
magnetism. Other topics may be added or substituted, depending on time and student interest.
My background is in surface and interface physics, so you may see scanning tunnelling microscope
images popping up from time to time!
A scanning tunnelling microscope image of Si(111) 7x7 (Dale Heggie, University of Saskatchewan, 2003).
You can see the periodic structure of the silicon surface, as well as some isolated defects.

Instructor
Dr Caroline (Katie) Mitchell
Room 3313HP, ext. 3212
Email: caroline.mitchell3@carleton.ca
Office Hours: TBA

Lectures
Lectures are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:05 2:25 pm in Room PA 101 (Paterson Hall).
The lecture timetable is given in Appendix 1. The exact schedule of topics may change during the term. I
will make sure that the most up to date schedule can always be found on cuLearn.

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cuLearn
Current news, general course materials, assignments, and relevant supplementary material will be
posted on the cuLearn homepage for this class. All students must be able to access cuLearn, and should
log onto the class website regularly in order to check for course information.

Assignments
There will be weekly assignments, generally covering material from the week before. They will be due at
the beginning of class on Thursdays. The planned assignment schedule is given in Appendix 2.
For the assignments, please provide answers that are neatly presented and complete. Feel free to come
and ask me about the assignments.
There will also be short reading assignments (a single short question) due at the beginning of each class.
Completing 80% of these assignments and submitting them when you arrive in class will earn you the
full 5% reading assignment mark.

Midterm
I have tentatively scheduled the Midterm for Thurs. Feb. 12th, just before the February Break.

Grades
Assignments: 25%
Reading assignments: 5%
Midterm: 25%
Final Exam: 45%

Prerequisites
Students in this course must have Physics 3606 (Modern Physics II) or Physics 3608 (Modern Applied
Physics), and Physics 3701 (Elements of Quantum Mechanics). Otherwise students must check with Dr.
Mitchell and obtain permission from the Physics Department to remain in the course.
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Textbook
The required textbook is the following:
Introduction to Solid State Physics by Charles Kittel, 8th edition
This is the standard textbook that has been used for many years for upper year undergraduate and
beginning graduate solid state physics. The 8th edition was published in 2005, and the main change from
previous editions was the addition of a chapter on Nanophysics, written by Paul McEuen, an active
researcher in the field.
Although Kittel can be quite terse, all of the important topics are covered, the material is presented at
an appropriate level, and there are a wealth of tables and figures which are very helpful as references.

Supplementary materials
There are several other books which you may find useful as supplementary material. I have asked for
these books and Kittel to be put on reserve at the library.
Solid-State Physics: An Introduction to Principles of Materials Science, by H. Ibach and H. Luth
This book is nicely written, and has some good explanations of basic concepts. It also has sections at the
end of each chapter which highlight relevant applications and experimental techniques.
Solid State Physics, by N.W. Ashcroft and N.D. Mermin
This is the classic graduate Solid State textbook, which has been around for many years. It is a very good
book, at a more advanced level than Kittel. Because Ashcroft and Mermin go into more detail on the
various topics, it can be helpful if you find that Kittel is lacking in detail. There are also many good
problems in this book.

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General Policies for Physics Courses

Please see http://www.physics.carleton.ca/current-undergraduate-students/academic-policies for all
the Physics Departments course policies.

Academic Honesty Policy

All work presented by a student must be her or his original work. The attention of all students is drawn
to section E.14 of the Academic Regulations of the University:
http://www4.carleton.ca/calendars/ugrad/current/regulations/acadregsuniv14.html
In PHYS 4508 such offences will normally result in a mark of zero for the assignment, midterm, or exam
in question. In addition, a report will automatically be sent to the Dean of the students Faculty, for
possible further disciplinary action.

Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities requiring academic accommodations in this course must register with the Paul
Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities for a formal evaluation of disability-related needs.
Registered PMC students are required to contact the Student Support Officer, Bruce Hamm, at 613-5206608, every term to ensure that your letter of accommodation is received, no later than two weeks
before the first assignment is due or the first in-class midterm requiring accommodations. If you require
accommodation for your formally scheduled exam(s) in this course, please submit your request for
accommodation to the PMC at least 6 weeks before the examination period.
If you have registered with the PMC, and have an academic accommodation, you must also discuss this
with Dr. Mitchell, to determine practical arrangements.
General Information about the PMC: http://www1.carleton.ca/pmc/
Dates and Deadlines for Registered Students
http://www1.carleton.ca/pmc/students/dates-and-deadlines/

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Appendix 1: Lecture Schedule

Lecture

Topic

Chapter
(from Kittel)

Tue. Jan. 6th

Introduction to crystals and lattices; Bravais lattices & symmetries

Thu. Jan. 8th

Crystal planes and Miller indices; common crystal structures

Tue. Jan. 13th

Thu. Jan. 15th

Tue. Jan. 20th

Thu. Jan. 22nd

Tue. Jan. 27th

Thu. Jan. 29th

Date

Tue. Feb. 3rd

Thu. Feb. 5th

10

Tue. Feb. 10th

11

Bragg diffraction, double crystal monochromator, and intro to

reciprocal lattice
X-ray diffraction: reciprocal lattice, scattering amplitude,
diffraction condition, equivalence to Bragg condition
X-ray diffraction: Laue equations, Ewald construction, Brillouin
zones, geometries for X-ray diffraction, intro to structure factor
X-ray diffraction: structure factor and atomic form factor
Brief overview of crystal binding (Ch. 3, for info only); Introduction
to lattice vibrations, vibrations of a 1D monatomic chain
Monatomic chain (continued), vibrations of a diatomic chain
Diatomic chain: optical and acoustic modes; quantization of lattice
vibrations: phonons, measuring phonon dispersions
Phonons, introduction to phonon heat capacity; allowed modes
and derivation of 1D and 3D density of states
Debye model and Einstein model

Thu. Feb. 12th

Midterm

Tue. Feb. 17th

Winter Break, no class

Thu. Feb. 19th

2
2
2
2
4
4
4
5
5

Thu. Feb. 26th

13

Tue. Mar. 3rd

14

Thu. Mar. 5th

15

Tue. Mar. 10th

16

Thu. Mar. 12th

17

Tue. Mar. 17th

18

Winter Break, no class

Density of states, anharmonic effects: thermal expansion, intro to
thermal conductivity
Midterm review, thermal conductivity, intro to electronic structure
and free electron model
Free electron Fermi gas, Fermi-Dirac distribution, intro to
electronic heat capacity
Electronic heat capacity, electrical conductivity/resistivity
Umklapp scattering, electrons in magnetic fields, thermal
conductivity, intro to nearly free electrons
Schrdinger equation in a 1D periodic potential, plotting
bandstructure: empty lattice exercise
Bandstructure continued, Central Equation in 1D

Thu. Mar. 19th

19

Bandgap and E(k) at zone boundary, metals and insulators

Tue. Mar. 24th

20

Intro to semiconductors, band gap, equations of motion

Thu. Mar. 26th

21

Tue. Mar. 31st

22

Thu. Apr. 2nd

23

Effective mass, intrinsic carrier concentration

Impurity conductivity (donors and acceptors), thermoelectric
effects, p-n junctions, heterostructures
TBA

Tue. Apr. 7th

24

TBA

Tue. Feb. 24th

12

5
5,6
6
6
6,7
7
7

8, 17

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Appendix 2: Assignment Schedule

Assignment Schedule
Week 1
Week 2

Assn. 1 due Thurs. Jan. 15th

Week 3

Assn. 2 due Thurs. Jan. 22nd

Week 4

Assn. 3 due Thurs. Jan. 29th

Week 5

Assn. 4 due Thurs. Feb. 5th

Week 6

Midterm Thurs. Feb. 12th

Week 7

February Break!

Week 8
Week 9

Assn. 5 due Thurs. Mar. 5th

Week 10

Assn. 6 due Thurs. Mar. 12th

Week 11

Assn. 7 due Thurs. Mar. 19th

Week 12

Assn. 8 due Thurs. Mar. 26th

Week 13

Assn. 9 due Thurs. Apr. 2nd

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