Solid state physics Definition and 268 Threads

Hello, everyone! I'm aware that there's already a thread (probably many ones) for textbooks on the topic of CMT and also exclusively Solid State. As far as I know, Oxford's Solid State Basics is the recommended book for undergraduates and generally people only beginning their adventure with...

I have read myself through a lot of information on photovoltaics. Yet I still don't understand how it really works. From what I think I understand, the charge separation in PN junctions happens due to an electric potential build up in the depletion zone. Now according to a wikipage on organic...

When both isolated p-type and n-type materials join together and form pn-junction as picture attached, the vacuum energy level also bend so it is higher on the the p-side than on the n-side. Does that mean the absolute energy of an electron that is just outside the material on the p-side higher...

Hello, kind souls. I am planning to finish my bachelor in the start of next year (early February to be precise). Before I go for my PhD (I will skip the master, something not unusual in my country, especially after a long bachelor like I did), I wish to get some more hands-on research...

In solid state physics or statistical physics, the many-body spin Hamiltonian is written as ##\sum_{i,j} \hat{S}_{i}\cdot \hat{S}_j##. I referred to many textbooks, and most of them just generalised this from the two-electron case ##\hat{S}_{1}\cdot \hat{S}_2##. While this seems natural, it is...

From the book The Blue Laser Diode: The Complete Story, it said that I am wondering, after 20 years, is this problem still puzzling for scientists? How far have we understood about this problem?

Hello, First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who takes their time to read through my post and make a response, I really appreciate your help that is given for free. Background. I’m a Physics student in his last year, my expected graduation date is June 2024. I study at one of the best...

I was previously thinking of buying Solid State Physics by Kittel, but it turns out it's not beginner friendly and neither is Ashcroft & Mermin. One book that is supposedly beginner friendly is AJ Dekker (1956) but it has received little discussion on this physics forum and on reddit (as a...

I want to know your opinion on whether I should buy Kittlel's Introduction to Solid State Physics or some other book to study Solid State Physics. I was going through the solutions manual for the book and I realized that it had only 72 questions in it. I was wondering if it was enough to get a...

TL;DR Summary: I need animations to understand physics better. Any links and animations would be very appreciated. I have started learning Solid state physics and I am struggling somewhat to understand and imagine certain things. I feel like this is one area of physics which needs extensive...

I'm having a bit of trouble with this exercise because, even if I understand the physics of the dipole-dipole interaction in an ideal classical system, I don't get to know how to approach this problem. I've got a few doubts about how this system would work. First of all, what would be the...

My first assumption is that the temperature dependence on the mobilities can be neglected, and so we would have: $$R_H(T)= \frac{1}{e} \frac{p_v(T)\mu_h^2-n_c(T)\mu_e^2}{(p_v(T)\mu_h+n_c(T)\mu_e)^2}$$ The expression for the electron and hole densities could be derived from...

The starting point is the identity $$\left(\frac{\partial u}{\partial T}\right)_n = T\left(\frac{\partial s}{\partial T}\right)_n.$$ I then try to proceed as follows: Integrating both with respect to ##T## after dividing through by ##T##, we find $$ \int_0^T \left(\frac{\partial s}{\partial...

The question is as seen below: My attempt (note that my questions are in bold below) is below. Please note that I am self-studying AM: (a) By the independence of any interval ##dt## of time and time symmetry, we expect these two answers are the same (Is there any way to make this rigorous?)...

I'd like to proceed in a linear fashion, taking each part on one by one. For the first part, we can write the Hamiltonian as ##H = \sum_{n}^{N} w(c_{An}^{\dagger}c_{Bn}+c_{Bn}^{\dagger}c_{An})+v(c_{Bn}^{\dagger}c_{A(n+1)}+c_{A(n+1)}^{\dagger}c_{Bn})##. We can convert the creation and...

I am going over the diffraction condition section in Kittle's Introduction to Solid State Physics physics and I am having a hard time understanding why the phase difference angle for the incident wave is positive while the phase angle difference for the diffracted wave is negative. Thank you...

I tried to solve it considering the canonical ensemble (since the system is at the equilibrium with temperature T) and started finding the partition function:The problem is I am not sure if I have done it correctly and need help because I don't really know where to check.

We usually plot electronic bands with the help of high symmetry points of the irreducible zone of primitive cell of particular material. But if we want to plot bands with conventional cell, we have to map the high symmetry points from primitive cell to conventional cell. so how can we map the...

I have the opportunity to get a Springer book for free, provided that it is cheaper than 200$. I am considering an introductory one about Solid State Physics, but I have never heard about a valid one from Springer (I know about Kittel, Ashcroft and Simon only). Do you have any suggestion? Thank...

TL;DR Summary: Gerald Burns's book: Solid State Physics: is it good for begginers or there are best books? Hello, I am looking for the best book to study solid state physics for begginers. Some one recommended Gerald Burns's book: Solid State Physics. So, what is your opinions about this book...

I'm an EE with only a surface knowledge of solid state. I know this forum is mostly for students but I don't know where else to find a lot of physicists. Also, please forgive me if this is a dumb question. For a circuit I want to build, I need a transistor that can conduct > 10,000 A, but does...

For a normal PN junction I would try to find $V_{bi}$ by integrating the carrier density (eg. the electrons n) from one region to the other: $$\int_{n_{p0}}^{n} \frac {dn}{n} = \frac {q}{kT}\int_{V_p}^{V_n} dV$$ Which would yield: $$V_{bi}=V_n-V_p=\frac...

In the following pdf I tried to calculate the density of states of free electrons and phonons. First, I found the free electron DOS in 1D, it turns to be proportional to (energy)^(-1/2) and in 2D it is constant. However, I am not sure I found the DOS for phonons in the second part of the...

Does fermi level (in metals) depend on the density of states? I am asking this because from fermi-dirac distribution it seems like that fermi level is non-dependent of DOS, but there is chemical potential in fermi-dirac distribution, which is said to be dependent of DOS.

The Fermi energy Ef is defined as the energy of the topmost filled level in the ground state of the N electron system. Ground state is n=1 level. And in the ground state there can be only one orbital right? One orbital can have only up to 2 electrons. Does this mean that fermy energy is the...

Good Day : i reached the page 40 of Ashcroft Mermin book and after the equation 2.38 there is this expression of E(a,N) which is equal to Helmoltez Free energy F = U - TS , how this two terms F , E are related ? anyone can provide adequate explanation , and few useful references Best...

Hey guys, I have two questions: 1) I thought absolute electrode potential is galvani potential difference at the interface. However, it is given by this equation in John Bockris - Modern Electrochemistry: $$ E(abs) = ^M\Delta^S\phi - \mu_e^M/F $$ First term is galvani potential difference on...

The left pic is the initial state and the right pics are 2 different descriptions for a metal under electric field E. Are the 2 on the right contradictory and which is correct?

If there is some incoming light that has hit electrons of a N-type doped silicon and broke loose these electrons from their covalent bounds and excited them to the conduction band and also excited the electrons in the donor energy level to the conduction band as well, here we know that, the...

Basically the thread title. For some background, I'm trying to model laser-material interactions, where I'm assuming that the laser is interacting with a free electron gas (copper). To model the interaction, I need to determine the properties of the electron gas, such as the heat capacity...

What is the best books about the history of solid state physics? I only found this: Out of the Crystal Maze: Chapters from the History of Solid State Physics by Lillian Hoddeson Are there any other books? Thanks for your suggestions

So really i am just unsure how to answer the last part of the question. I am unsure how to apply the low and high temperature limits the way i have done it. Do i set upper/lower limits on the integral and solve? If so i am not sure what to put Here is what he book has for 3d

Hello fellow physicists, I have a homework assignment which is to make a scientific essay (10-15 pages long) on neutron scattering in solid state physics. Our teacher is kind of the worse and he hasn't specified what he wants it on. He just said what I'm telling you: "An essay on neutron...

Summary:: Due tight-binding model I derived the energy spectrum of the particle, showing that it comprises three energy bands E+(k), E−(k) and E0(k)=0. Now, I have to find the dispersion laws. Why do I have a flat energy band? What is its physical significance?. Also, what happens to the...

For which field is there more demand in the industry? And is knowledge of quantum electronics/optics useless without having a phd, as I see most job offers ask for a doctorate degree. Are the skills and knowledge from quantum electronics transferable to engineering positions or is what you...

Hi, I have to check some questions answers for my homework (Problem 3.5 and 3.6). Please help me find this book solution manual.

I have attached the pages in Kittel's book (pages 417-420) regarding my question. My question is simply based off of the second to last photo, where e_f = 5*10^4 K and e_1 = 1K. e_2<e_f and |e_2|<e_1. So how can (e_1/e_f)^2 be less than 1? The energy of the free flowing electron is assumed to...

Hello all: I was wondering are we have a name for protein structure , or we consider them amorphous? Any one did a phono propagation in protein molecules ? Protein folding and phonons any relationship? When peptides came together and start to form the protein dose phonons/photon propagation...

Hi, I am currently studying solid-state physics course from Charles Kittel's "introduction to SSP" I searched more on youtube to get lectures to follow the book of Kittel but failed. Really I would appreciate if anybody advises me online source which can help me to comprehend the contents of...

I am curious about the standard enthalpies of formation of carbon nanotubes, diamond, carbon buckyballs, graphene, etc. I read from physics forums that the standard enthalpies of formation of these allotropes of carbon are small. However, since diamond is fabricated naturally under extreme...

Hi, I have to study for a solid state physics course and I'm not sure what textbook would be the best. Our professor suggested "Principles of the theory of Solids" by Ziman, or "Solid state physics" by Ashcroft. I'll intend to use both: one I buy, the other one I borrow from the library. But...

For some work of mine i need the plasma resonance frequency for tin nanoparticle, i searched various research papers and found different efffective masses tin for different orbits. here i attached screen shot from W A Roger and S B Woods (Cyclotron effective masses in white tin). What value is...

Hi, I am currently studying for our third year solid state physics course. We follow chapters 1-9 From Charles Kittel's "introduction to SSP" Youtube has a lot of videos on solid state physics yet i am struggling to find any video source for lectures that follow the book of Kittel. I would...

What are some good solid state/condensed matter theory schools in Europe ?

In picture, there is crystal structure with two atoms. Question is, what is the lattice points? Find a set of lattice points. I think green and pink points are both lattice points. Am i right? This is our full hw.

Chemical potential is defined as the change in energy due to change in the number of particles in a system. Let we have a system which is defined by the following Hamiltonian: $$H = -t \sum_i^L c_i^\dagger c_{i+1} + V\sum_i^L n_i n_{i+1} -\mu \sum_i^L n_i$$ where ##c^\dagger (c)## are creation...

Homework Statement ln the figure below you (b, which is taken from Jenö Sólyom Fundamentals of the physics of solids. Volume 2 chapter 19) see the Fermi sphere of radius k_F inside one section in two dimensions of the Brillouin zone of Na. Draw the dispersion relation E(k) from the I point in...

Hi, for those who don't know, Landau (Lev Davidovitch Landau) had a famous exam called "The theoretical minimum". That exam had to be passed by any future grad-student of his. That test was extremely extensive and difficult, and the student was supposed to be knowledgeable about many fields of...

Homework Statement Powder sample of monoatomic cubic lattice crystal is analyzed using Debye-Scherrer method. Primitive vetors of direct lattice are: a1 = (a, 0, 0), a2 = (0, a, 0) i a3 = (0, 0, a). Wavelength of x-ray radiation is 1 Å. a) Find primitive vectors of reciprocal lattice. b) Find...

Metals are highly effective at screening electric fields. If we place two contacts reasonably far away from each other on a piece of metal and apply a voltage bias, the charge carriers in the section that is far enough from both the contacts should be unaffected by the electric field. Why then...