Condensed Matter 1

Gecondenseerde materie 1

Course manual 2018/2019

Course content

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 Dutch physics 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 Mechanics / structure of matter (5092QUDM6Y) – 2nd year Jan., Feb. & Mar.
- Cond-mat-2 (50922COM6Y) – 3rd year, Feb. & Mar.
- Physics of Energy: sun, water, wind and storage (5092PESW6Y) – 3rd year, Nov. & Dec.

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 (5092STFY6Y) – 2nd year, Apr. & May
- Advanced Quantum Physics (5092ADQP6Y) – 3rd year, Sept. & Oct.
- Atomic Physics (5092ATPH6Y) – 3rd year, Nov. & Dec.

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. Besides 14 lectures and 14 problem-solving classes, a lab-tour within the UvA's IoP will be organized 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

This course gives a broad overview of a number of important concepts in solid state physics. These provide the quantum physics theory underlying important parts of material science, and give a framework for understanding the physics of material structure, conduction of electricity, the propagation of sound in crystalline solids, as well as the electrical and optical properties of metals and semiconductors.

Having successfully completed this course the student will:

• be able to describe how the microscopic structure of a solid (composition, atomic bonding, crystalline symmetry, defects) influences its electronic and optical properties
• be able to show how the quantum character of electrons and the periodicity of lattice influence the electronic and optical properties of crystalline materials
• be able to explain how the electronic properties of solids are influenced by external factors such as temperature, electric field, or exposure to electromagnetic radiation.
• be able to describe how the electronic and optical properties of representative solids are implemented in various devices, such as the p-n junction in solar cells, in LEDs and in transistors. 

Teaching methods

• Hoorcollege
• Werkcollege

• 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 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 which 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 one-by-one or also binge-watched, at your leisure. Here is the web-link to use for the 'webcollege catalogue' for GM1:

https://webcolleges.uva.nl/Mediasite/Catalog/Full/492aae488ef340068cc9c6f69d68ad0121

• 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. The test questions in PE1 and PE2 are just like the PSC questions, and thus getting to know how to recognise the problem being asked and an efficient route to take to get to the answers are essential skills that are only picked up by doing it. Working in groups is encouraged, but we emphasize that each individual student should be doing the exercises her/himself, 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

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-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 6.4, a different study plan will be made in consultation with the study advisor.

Additional requirements for this course:

none.

Assessment

Examination

PE1 - the first partial exam - covers the material from L1-6 (L7 is a re-cap session) and PSCs1-6 (PSC7 is a re-cap session).

PE2 - this is the second partial exam, and this covers the rest of the material: L8-13 (L14 is a re-cap session), and PSCs 8-13 (PSC 14 is a re-cap session).

RT_PE1 - this is a re-take option for PE1, and is held directly after the PE2 partial exam.

RT_GM1 - this is the re-take of GM1 as a whole, and this always covers the whole of the course material.

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

1. If PE1 is greater than or equal to 5, then
2. PE2 is the second partial exam and if also PE2 is greater than or equal to 5, and the average of PE1 and PE2 is greater than or equal to 5.5 (rounding to a six), then: success.
3. If PE1 was <5, then the student can take RT_PE1 + PE2 in one sitting. This combination of RT_PE1+PE2 covers the whole course material. If the total mark for (RT_PE1+PE2) is greater than or equal to 5.5 (rounding to a six), then: success.
4. If either the combination of PE1+PE2 or RT_PE1+PE2 does not lead to success, then the RT_GM1 re-take, covering the whole course material and held in January is the only option in this academic year. If RT_GM1 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 explaing this more simply. 

Inspection of assessed work

Contact the course coordinator to make an appointment for inspection.

Assignments

PSC exercises

• see PSCs above; WIG (working in groups) being used.

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

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Honours information

-.

Additional information

Recommended prior knowledge: Quantumfysica-1, Elektriciteit en magnetisme, Trillingen, golven en optica.

Lectures and problem solving classes will be given in English, one of the TA’s - Steef Smit – is a native Dutch speaker, so explanations can also be given in Dutch, as long as all students in the group are OK with that. All examination papers will be in English, and all exam questions are proof-read by a native English speaker. 


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

Processed course evaluations

Our thanks to the ~ 60% of stud­ents who responded to the end-of-course questionnaire: we value your opinion highly.
We are very pleased to see a core group of students attending almost all the lectures and tutorials/problem solving classes. Those passing the course attended - on average - almost 50% of the PSC’s, those failing only 35%: this is not high-level statistics, but probably still says something. 

Students rated the course as a whole with a mark just shy of an 8,  clearly in the top 25% when referenced to other courses. Marks for how instructive the course was, from the students’ perspective and 'knowledge and understanding' scored very high (the latter in the rubric Learning Outcomes).

As regards course quality GM1_2017_2018 scored at or well above the 50% level compared to reference courses. The negative exceptions are on workload and level, where GM1 is seen scored as slightly light-weight and slightly easy. Our feeling is that this could be influenced by the significant 3rd year (and higher) contingent in the student group. We wanted to ask students about this at the SRS, but none (at all) turned up = "no news is good news"?

Based on the student feedback, we will take care to re-examine the length of the partial exams in 2018_2019.

Contact information

Coordinator

• prof. dr. Mark Golden

Coördinator:            prof.dr. Mark Golden (m.s.golden@uva.nl)
Other lecturers:       dr. K. Newell (k.newell@uva.nl)  [Katerina or Kat]
PSC TA's:
Group A = George Araizi-Kanoutas (G.AraiziKanoutas@uva.nl)
Group B = Lewis Bawden (L.Bawden@uva.nl)
Group C = Steef Smit (S.Smit@uva.nl