Solid State Physics and Chemistry of Materials II

Abstract

Continuation of Solid State Physics and Chemistry of Materials I

Objective

Electronic properties and band theory description of conventional solids Electron-lattice coupling and its consequences in functional materials Electron-spin/orbit coupling and its consequences in functional materials Structure/property relationships in strongly-correlated materials

Content

In this course we study how the properties of solids are determined from the chemistry and arrangement of the constituent atoms, with a focus on materials that are not well described by conventional band theories because their behavior is governed by strong quantum-mechanical interactions. We begin with a review of the successes of band theory in describing many properties of metals, semiconductors and insulators, and we practise building up band structures from atoms and describing the resulting properties. Then we explore classes of systems in which the coupling between the electrons and the lattice is so strong that it drives structural distortions such as Peierls instabilities, Jahn-Teller distortions, and ferroelectric transitions. Next, we move on to strong couplings between electronic charge and spin- and/or orbital- angular momentum, yielding materials with novel magnetic properties. We end with examples of the complete breakdown of single-particle band theory in so-called strongly correlated materials, which comprise for example heavy-fermion materials, frustrated magnets, materials with unusual metal-insulator transitions and the high-temperature superconductors.

Resources