Course manual 2024/2025

Course content

Please see the Canvas page "Before starting GM1...." for the most up to date version of the course manual.
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The world around us is dominated by solids. Correspondingly, condensed matter physics is the largest sub-discipline in the global physics research scene, and one in which The Netherlands plays a prominent role. This lecture course (GM1) introduces the most important concepts that underpin modern (quantum) condensed matter and materials physics.

GM1 (or CondMat1) - as the course is abbreviated - acts as a good basis / or inspiration for the following courses:

Quantum Concepts – 2nd year, Period 3
Emergence 2nd year, Period 4,5
Fundamentals of Photonics – 2nd year, Period 5

Concepts and ideas used in GM1/CM1 will return and some of the ‘missing’ theory background will be filled-in in these courses:

Statistical physics - 2nd year, Period 5
Quantum Physics 2 – 2nd year , Period 5
Advanced Quantum Physics – 3rd year, Period 1.
Atomic Physics– 3rd year, Period 3.
Workshop Physics and Astronomy – 3rd year, Period 3

Condensed matter physics is an essential part of the MSc tracks AMEP, Theoretical Physics, Science for Energy and Sustainability (SfES), and is helpful for GRAPPA.

GM1 addresses the topics of bonding, crystal structure, free electrons in metals, the impact of periodic lattice potential on electronic wavefunction and energy levels, the properties and description of semiconductors and semiconductor devices like LEDs or solar cells.

The basic structure is 14 lectures and 14 problem-solving classes, plus a lab-tour within the UvA's IoP, the aim of the latter being to give you a taste of how experimental research into solid state materials is really done in practice.

If you would like to:

understand how the theoretical physics describing the quantum properties of electrons in lattices leads to such a broad variety in the physical properties of materials (metals, insulators, semiconductors)
understand how the physics behind the electronic and optical properties of solids can be exploited in the devices which underpin unmissable elements of modern society such as the semiconductor transistor, photovoltaics and optoelectronic devices such as LEDs

then this is the course for you.

Study materials

Literature

J.R. Hook and H.E. Hall, 'Solid state physics', Second Edition, Wiley, ISBN 0-471-92805-4.

Other

As appropriate, additional study material will be placed on Canvas.

Objectives

Describe the microscopic structure of a solid; explain how this arises from its composition and bonding; explain how the structure can be determined experimentally.
Describe the key quantum properties of electrons in metals; explain how they are relevant for electronic transport.
Explain how the combination of the quantum character of electrons and the periodicity of lattice leads to metals, semiconductors and insulators.
Explain how the electronic properties of solids are influenced by external factors such as temperature or electric field.
Derive analytical expressions for the band structure of simple crystalline solids.
Describe and explain how the (nearly) free electron model of metals is modified when the lattice potential is strong to yield the tight binding approximation.
Explain how the electronic and optical properties of semiconductors are connected, comparing and contrasting to the case of metals and insulators.
Describe the connection between the microscopic structure of semiconductor devices with their macroscopic electronic and optical properties; evaluate and identify.

Teaching methods

Lecture
Seminar
Self-study
Fieldwork/excursion

Lecture, in a plenary setting (abbreviated as L)

The lectures are intended to awake interest, providing both context and a first meeting point with the material. They are not intended to be exhaustive or 'enough' on their own for a student to pick up the necessary skills and knowledge to master the course. Following the lectures (real-time and/or via the films =‘webcolleges’) and using the lecture sheets/notes, plus working with the book, with any additional material on Bb, and - crucially - active participation in the problem-solving classes are essential for success.

GM1 contains lots of concepts that are new to the 2nd year students for whom the course is designed. The lectures try to help the students become able to internalise these concepts and - after thought and work from the students' side - the core framework of condensed matter physics at this level should crystallize in the course of this lecture series. The lectures are - naturally - a place at which the astute student can pick up the emphasis and relative importance of the (many) new concepts, factual knowledge and procedures that are offered in class.

Lectures are FILMED and can be watched / re-watched at your leisure. The weblink for the filmed lectures is here:

https://webcolleges.uva.nl/Mediasite/Channel/3ee93d6c5e4047869ca7afa44e2a27f55fhttps://hva-uva.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Sessions/List.aspx#folderID=%22340c2ab5-3987-4884-af89-b1da009cd34b%22

Problem solving classes (PSCs)

Active and serious participation in the PSCs and the problems set is a vital part of the success formula for GM1.

A large proportion of the PSC questions are taken from or resemble very closely old PE1 and PE2 exam questions.

Thus getting to know how to recognise the problem being asked and an efficient route to take to get to the answers is an important skill. 'Doing it' is by the far the best way to pick up essential skills such as the application of knowledge, analysis of new problems, the evaluation of the relative impact of different factors, analysis of the merits and weaknesses of different models for different materials and creating connections between macroscopic and macroscopic properties. Working in groups is encouraged, but we emphasize that each individual student should be doing the exercises themselves, using the rest of the group to discuss the material and to help overcome the inevitable blockages that crop up on the way to successful completion of the exercises. Just looking over someone else's shoulder, reading their answers to a problem and saying 'oh yeah…….' does not generally do the trick, so please DIY.

Learning activities

Distribution of learning activities	No. of hours	No. hours per L/PSC	Av. h per week, (13 weeks)
Student reading through book (and other study material on Bb) before each lecture	7	0.5
Attending lectures of following filmed lectures	26	2
Students revisiting the lecture material at their own speed after each lecture, using the book, the lecture slides and the filmed audio/video	26	2
Students approaching lecturing staff if they get totally stuck understanding lecture materials	7	0.25

Students working offline in groups on the PSC class problems prior to each PSC	7	0.5
Students working in groups in the PSCs and asking Q's to the TA's when the whole group is stuck	26	2
Students working offline in groups to complete the PSC class problems after each PSC	7	0.5
Students approaching PSC TA's if they get totally stuck doing PSC exercises	7	0.25

Revision for PE1	18	18
PE1 (partial exam, deeltoets)	2.5	2.5
Revision for PE2	18	18
PE2 (partial exam, deeltoets) and (for some) RT_PE1 (re-take exam, hertentamen). PE2 + RT_PE1 = 2 + 2 = 4 h	4	4

Total no. of hours	155.5		19.5

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (TER-B):

Each student is expected to participate actively in each component of the programme that he/she signed up for. A student that does not attend the first two seminars of a course, will be administratively removed from the seminar group. A request for reregistration for the seminars can be applied to the programme coordinator.
If a student cannot attend an obligatory component of a programme's component due to circumstances beyond his control, he must report in writing to the relevant teacher as soon as possible. The teacher, if necessary after consulting the study adviser, may decide to issue the student a replacing assignment.
It is not allowed to miss obligatory commponents of the programme if there is no case of circumstances beyond one's control.
In case of participating qualitatively or quantitatively insufficiently, the examiner can expel a student from further participation in the programme's component or a part of that component. Conditions for sufficient participation are set down in advance in the course manual.
In addition to the above mentioned rules, in the first semester of the first year a student should be present in at least 80% of the seminars. Moreover, participation to midterm tests and obligatory homework is required. If the student does not comply with these obligations, the student is expelled from the resit of this course. Students in the double Bachelor's degree programme Mathematics and Physics are exempted from this requirement. In case of personal circumstances, as described in OER-A Article A-6.4, a different study plan will be made in consultation with the study advisor.

Additional requirements for this course:

none.

Assessment

Item and weight	Details
Final grade
1 (100%) Deeltoets 1

Examining GM1

At the end of the first half (L1-L7), PE1 is set: the first partial exam. PE1 will be 2.5h in duration (for regular time students). PE1 cover the material from L1-6 and PSC's 1-6, up to and including the nearly free electron model.

At the end of the 2nd half (L8-L14), comes PE2. This is the second partial exam, and this covers the material in the 2nd half of the course. This means the material from L8-13 and PSC8-13. PE2 will be 2.5h in duration (for regular time students).

PE1-retake - this is a re-take option for PE1, as an added 'service' to students. We hold this directly after the PE2 partial exam. PE1-retake will be 1.5h in duration (for regular time students).

Global retake - this is the re-take of GM1 as a whole, and this always covers the whole of the course material. The Global retake will be 2.5h in duration (for regular time students).

GM1 exam rules and calculations (all marks mentioned are out of 10 [ten]):

- Please read this carefully. In order to spread the load for you as students, and to offer a maximum of fair opportunities to show us you master the material, we have a carefully crafted exam system. You’ll save yourself time and pain if you understand the rules, now – not after the exams.
- To be able to count, each and every partial exam (i.e. PE1, PE1-retake, and PE2) need to score greater than or equal to 5 (without rounding, so a 4.95=fail).
- If your PE1 (held end September) score is 5 or above, then PE2 (held end October) is all you then need to sit: if your PE2 score is 5 or above, and the average of your PE1 and PE2 scores is equal to or greater than 5.5: success.
- If your PE1 was <5, then your next option is to take PE1-retake and PE2. Both these exams are at the end of October (in this first online-only year for GM1 not in the same sitting). This combination of PE1-retake +PE2 covers the whole course material. As both PE1-retake and PE2 are partial exams, you need to score at least a five in both (i.e. a 4.95 for one or both = fail), and then the average of both still has to be at least a 5.5, then: success.
- If your PE1-retake <5, or your PE2 <5, or both of these are at a 5 or more but the average of both is <5.5, then unfortunately you have failed GM1. Then the Global retake, covering the whole course material is held in early January (the 4th) is the only option in this academic year. If your Global retake score is greater than or equal to 5.5 (rounding to a six), then: success.

The Course Manual .pdf on Canvas contains a useful flow diagramme explaining this more simply.

Breakdown of final GM1 mark:

100% of the total mark is from the sum of PE1 (50%) and PE2 (50%), or equivalent combinations involving retake-PE1 (retakePE1 50% PE2 50%) or the GlobalRetake (100%).
As an example, if you score an 8.5 for PE1 and a 7.5 for PE2 then 100% of your total GM1 mark is an 8.

Please note:

Succeeding in both PE1 + PE2 is the shortest route to success in GM1, spreading the learning over two time-points: so please take PE1 very seriously, and ditto for PE2.

Inspection of assessed work

Contact the course coordinator to make an appointment for inspection.

We will offer inspection periods take a look at your completed exam questions and how they were marked (usually two different 1h ‘time-windows’) for each PE. In case that doesn’t work out, please contact Mark Golden (M.S.Golden@uva.nl)

Assignments

PSC exercises

see PSCs above; students are encouraged to form a learning team (~4 students in total) to help both overcoming blocks when approaching problems, and to boost (social) cohesion within GM1. Students should DO the PSC problems THEMSELVES.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Weekly study planner

Week number	Subjects	Material to be studied
1 (calendar week 36)	physics of the quantum atom, bonding, lattices	Module 1 lecture sheets, notes and filmed L1, L2 exercises from PSCs 1 and 2 Hook and Hall 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.6,
2 (calendar week 37)	diffraction and microscopy (L3) Module 1 free electron model (L4) Module 2	lecture sheets, notes and filmed L3, L4 exercises from PSCs 3 and 4 Hook and Hall 1.2, 1.4, Ch. 3
3 (calendar week 38)	free electron model (L5) Module 2 nearly-free electron model (L6) Module 3	lecture sheets, notes and filmed L5, L6 exercises from PSCs 5 and 6 Hook and Hall Ch. 3 and 4.1, 4.2 start revision for PE1
4 (calendar week 39)	re-cap lecture (L7) and re-cap PSC = PSC7 tight binding (part of Part2 of course, not examined in PE1) in L8 (Module 5) PSC8 on tight binding partial exam 1 (PE1) (Module 4)	use re-cap L7 (also filmed) and PSC7 to raise questions on all material till now lecture sheets, notes and filmed L8 exercises from PSC8 Hook and Hall 4.3 revision for PE1, identifying things needing attention  flag these in Q&A session/vragenuur for your group
5 (calendar week 40)	tight binding model (L9) (Module 5) semiconductors (L10) Module 6	lecture sheets, notes and filmed L9,10 Hook and Hall 4.3, 4.4, Ch. 5 exercises from PSCs 9 and 10
6 (calendar week 41)	Semiconductors (L11) semiconductor devices (L12) Module 6	lecture sheets, notes and filmed L11, L12 exercises from PSCs 11 and 12 Hook and Hall Ch. 5, Ch. 6 start revision for PE2 (if you passed PE1) or for RT_PE1+PE2
7 (calendar week 42)	semiconductor devices (L13) Module 6 lab tour = Module 7 re-cap lecture (L14)	lecture sheets, notes and filmed L13 exercises from PSC 13 Hook and Hall Ch. 6 please come on the lab tour ! use L14 (re-cap) and PSC14 to raise questions on all 2nd half material up to now revise for PE2 (if you passed PE1) or for RT_PE1+PE2
8 (calendar week 43)	Q&A sessions = vragenuur PE2 partial exam and RT_PE1+PE2 complete exam PE2 and retake PE1 = module 8.	revise for PE2 or RT_PE1+PE2 vragenuur = Q&A sessions in the PSC groups: use to raise Q’s remaining on the material of Part 2 of the course RT_PE1 = up to and including nearly free electron model PE2 = from after NFE model to the end of the course

Honours information

Additional information

Recommended prior knowledge:

It’s useful if you have had these courses or similar from elsewhere:

Quantumfysica-1, Elektriciteit en magnetisme, Trillingen & golven, thermische fysica.

However, given sufficient motivation and willingness to work hard, we have seen students enjoy and succeed at GM1 without these, so we do not make them a entry requirement.

Language:

Lectures will be given in English. All three TA’s have excellent English (one of the three is a Dutch speaker, the other two are Spanish and Greek native speakers). All examination papers will be in English, and all exam questions are proof-read by a native English speaker. Try your best to answer exam questions in English. If you blank out or are in time trouble (for example), use Dutch if you want. Legible hand-writing is MUCH more important that whether you use English or Dutch.

During lectures questions can also be asked in Dutch (of course), or another language the lecturer is fluent in [German in Mark’s case], if English poses too much of a barrier.

Processed student feedback

See also the module ‘last year’s course evaluation’ in the Canvas site.

Massive thanks to the N=56 (of the 68 actively studying students) who responded to the end-of-course questionnaire for the 2023_2024 year.

For the global data see the data panel that can be seen in the above-mentioned Canvas page. In the more detailed UvA Q report:

The cohort found the lecture course very instructive (4.1/5) and clearly designed (3.9/5 & 4.4/5), scoring higher that the grey block.
I did my best to provide feedback (via the PE's; rapid provision of QandA for the PSCs; close PSC proximity to PE Q's), and I am encouraged to keep working on this.
Workload and level were on target, and the positive assessment for study material is appreciated (4.2/5)
my student activating teaching score was OK: I'll keep that in mind for next year and try to improve further.
my educator's heart sings when I see the assessment for the learning outcomes:
* knowledge and understanding (in the white bit above the grey box: 4.6/5)
* link structure & properties (N=48 agree/firmly agree)
* applying fundamental concepts to solid state physics (N=49 agree/firmly agree)
* identify and discuss key concepts in solid state physics (N=48 agree/firmly agree)
the PE1 and PE2 were found to be clear in terms of expectations (4.5 and 4.2 out of 5 for the two tests) and appropriate in terms of content and learning outcomes (4.4 and 4.3 out of 5 for the two tests)

On the ‘Overview of the results’ section of the main UvA_Q evaluation document we see that of the 14 aspects covered, 13 are shaded green (green meaning student satisfaction at 75% or above). Many of the satisfaction scores were in the 80’s and 90’s.

11 out of the 14 ‘dimensions’ of the overall results from the students were rated at 78% being “very satisfied” or more. These are the best-ever scores GM1 has got (which means me and my TA team have a duty of care not to mess GM1 up for future classes when seeking to further improve the course).

Final words
thanks again for the valuable feedback and for warming so nicely to the subject of Condensed Matter Physics. Please remember later in your studies that CondMat physics needs the interaction between theory and experiment, and consider that the latter is vital for applications as well as moving the dial on new fundamental discoveries.

Contact information

Coordinator

prof. dr. Mark Golden

Mark Golden: lecturer and coordinator, m.s.golden@uva.nl (06 12 17 1673)

TA team:
Ferran Aliagas Puigdomènech (group A)   ferran.aliagas.puigdomenech@student.uva.nl; anarref.ali@gmail.com
Crystal Knekna (group B)          C.Knekna@uva.nl
Levi Oudejans (group C)           l.l.oudejans2@uva.nl

Owner	Bachelor Natuur- en Sterrenkunde (joint degree)
Coordinator	prof. dr. Mark Golden
Part of	Double bachelor Mathematics and Physics, year 2 Bachelor Bèta-gamma, major Natuurkunde, year 2 Bachelor Physics and Astronomy (Joint Degree), year 2 Bachelor Bèta-gamma, major Natuurkunde, year 3

Condensed Matter 1