Learning objectives
The course focuses on the phisical properties and characterization of molecular materials.
Course unit content
<br />PREPARATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS<br />Main methods of materials prepatation. Gas, liquids and crystalline solids. Liquid crystals. Incommensurate structures.<br /><br />CRYSTALLINE STATE<br />Lattice, unit cell, space groups. Group of primitive traslations, andits irreducible representations. Factor group. Reciprocal lattice.Bloch theorem.<br /><br />SIMMETRY AND PHASE TRANSTIONS<br />Symmetry breaking. First and second order phase transtions. Landau theory.<br /><br />VIBRATIONS IN CRYSTALS<br />Vibrations in a monodimensional lattice, monatomic and biatomic.Periodic boundary conditions and Brillouin zones. Extension totridimensional lattices: dynamic equation. Phonons. Experimentalmethods for the vibratioanl dispersion curves: infrared absorption,Raman scattering, X ray, neutron scattering. Density of states. Bosedistribution and specific heat. Debye model.<br /><br />ELECTRONIC STATES IN CRYSTALS<br />Tightbinding method. Free electron and nearly free electron models. Fermisurface. Fermi distribution and electronic specific heat inmetals. Electron-electron interaction in metals: screening, Lindhardand Thomas-Fermi equations. Electron-electron interactions inmolecular crystals: Hubbard model. Electron-phonon interaction.<br /><br />OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS<br />Absorbance, reflectance, and Kramers-Kronig transformation. Optical spectra of metals:<br />plasme frequency, plasmons. Optical spectra of molecular crystals: excitons and factor group selection rules. Oriented gas model.<br /><br />MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS<br />Diamagnetism.Paramagnetism: Langevin e di Van Vleck models. Ferromagnetism andantiferromagnetism: Curie-Weiss law. Microscopic model and Heisemberghamiltonian. Ferrimagnetism.<br /><br />ELECTRON MOTION AND TRANSPORT PROPERTIES<br />Metal conductivity: semiclassical model. Electrons and holes. Resistance in metals. Semiconductors. Superconductors.<br /><br />MOLECULAR MATERIALS<br /><br />
Bibliography
S. Elliott, "The Physics and Chemistry of Solids" (Wiley, 1998)<br />P.A. Cox, "The Electronic Structure and Chemistry of Solids" (Oxford University press, 1995)
