Courses Catalogue

Syllabus of the course: Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics

In this web page we provide the syllabus of the course Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics, offered by the Department of Physics.
The list of the courses offered during the current accademic year is available here.
The list of all courses offered by the Department of Physics is available here.

Code	Φ-441
Type	B
ECTS	6
Hours	4
Semester	Spring
Instructor	E. Economou
Program	Wednesday 11:00-13:00, Amphitheater B Thursday 11:00-13:00, Amphitheater B
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Goal of the course	Introductory Condensed Matter Physics course with emphasis on the electronic structure of metals and semiconductors which is gradually approached starting with the Jellium model and the role of a weak periodic potential on one-electron dispersion relations. Basic quantum mechanics results on band theory are introduced with one-dimensional examples. Special attention is devoted to the procedure, common to electrons, phonons and other particles/waves, followed in obtaining the Density of States first in wavevector space and then vs. energy through the use of the appropriate dispersion relation. The importance of the dielectric function as a bridge between models and experimental observations is revealed. Finally fundamental topics in semiconductor physics as are holes and charge transport are presented.
Syllabus	The Jellium model and the fundamental forces determining the density of solids. Periodic structures, Bravais Lattices in position and reciprocal spaces. Waves in periodic media. X-ray and neutron scattering. Basic band theory, Bloch states and theorem. Dispersion relations density of electronic states. Metals, insulators, semiconductors. Semi-classical electron dynamics and the concept of holes. Fermi-Dirac statistics and the fundamental properties of electron gasses. Phonons. Doped semiconductors and carrier concentrations in equilibrium. Drift and diffusion of carriers. Carriers out of equilibrium in semiconductors, injection, recombination. The dielectric function of metals and semiconductors.
Bibliography	"Solid State physics", I. Harald, Η. Luth (in greek) "Introduction ot Solid state Physics", C. Kittel (in greek)