Course catalogue
Create your own master’s programme by choosing between the different specializations of our partner universities.
Master SERP+ Programme - cohort 2020-2025
Introduction to Solid State (6 ECTS)
All courses during this semester
All courses during this semester
- Transferable skills: Polish course, Summer School in Entrepreneurship (6 ECTS)
- The molecules of life: from structure to chemical function (3 ECTS)
- Selected in silico and in vitro methods in thermodynamics and soft matter (6 ECTS)
- Organic chemistry (3 ECTS)
- Introduction to solid state (6 ECTS)
- Dynamics of photochemical reactions in chemistry, biology and medicine (6 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Portuguese course, Summer School in Entrepreneurship (6 ECTS)
- Solid State Physics (6 ECTS)
- Molecular Energetics (3 ECTS)
- Laboratory of Materials and Surface Analysis (6 ECTS)
- Interfacial Electrochemistry (3 ECTS)
- Interfaces, Colloids and Self-Assembly (6 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Summer School in Entrepreneurship (3 ECTS)
- Organic Photochemistry (3 ECTS)
- Italian Courses (3 ECTS)
- Introduction to Solid State (6 ECTS)
- Inorganic Functional Materials (3 ECTS)
- Electrochemical systems for energy conversion and storage (6 ECTS)
- Chemistry and Technology of Catalysis and Laboratory (6 ECTS)
All courses during this semester
- Nanosciences (6 ECTS)
- Nanoparticles and Advanced radiation therapies (6 ECTS)
- Fundamentals in data science and machine learning (3 ECTS)
- Femtochemistry (3 ECTS)
- Chemistry for renewable energy: from advanced research to industrial applications (6 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Scientific writing, Polish courses (6 ECTS)
- Lanthanide luminescence: Application in chemistry and biology (6 ECTS)
- Introduction to Data Sciences (3 ECTS)
- Environmental photochemistry (3 ECTS)
- Computational and quantum photochemistry (6 ECTS)
- Applied photochemistry and luminescence spectroscopy (6 ECTS)
- Scientific Writing and Career Objectives (3 ECTS)
- Portuguese course (3 ECTS)
- Nanotechnologies, Micro and Nano-fabrication (6 ECTS)
- Materials Properties and Applications (6 ECTS)
- Electrochemical Technology (6 ECTS)
- Data Science Basics (3 ECTS)
- Bionanotechnology (3 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Scientific Writing Industrial Seminars (3 ECTS)
- Surface Science and Nanostructuring at Surfaces (6 ECTS)
- Polymers for electronics and energy harvesting (6 ECTS)
- Laboratory on device building (3 ECTS)
- Italian Courses (3 ECTS)
- Data Science and Applications to Chemistry (3 ECTS)
- Composite materials for biomedical applications (6 ECTS)
Content
The course consists of frontal lectures as well as laboratory trainings
Theoretical part: frontal classes
Condensed Matter and Quantum mechanics:
- Failure of classical mechanics in the description of condensed matter.
- Properties associated with the discreteness of matter: normal modes and phonons.
- Concept of wavevector, its quantization in on the lattice and phonon density of states.
- The heat capacity of a solid: Einstein and Debye models.
- Chemical bonds, unit cell and symmetry properties.
- Concept of direct and reciprocal space.
- Probing the crystal lattice: scattering of electrons, neutrons and X rays off three and two-dimensional lattices.
The electronic and optical properties:
- Free electron gas in electric and magnetic fields.
- Fermi Dirac statistics and the specific heat of an electron gas.
- The Fermi energy, wavevector and surface of a solid.
- The band structure and the single particle approximation for the valence electrons.
- Dielectric response function, plasmon and surface plasmon.
- Photoemission spectroscopy and work function.
- The tight binding model: valence and conduction bands, metals, semiconductors and insulators. Electrons and holes , and their ffective mass.
- Doping of semiconductor, semiconductor junctions and devices.
Magnetism:
- The various magnetic properties of a solid: para, dia, ferri and ferro-magnetism.
- The magnetism of conduction electrons: Pauli paramagnetism and Landau diamagnetism.
- Magnetic anisotropy, magnetic domains and hysteresis.
- Understanding magnetism: Heisenberg Hamiltonian and Hubbard model for ferromagnetism.
Superconductivity:
- The superconducting state, critical temperature, current and magnetic field
- The mechanism of correlation: Cooper pairs and the formation of the energy gap
- BCS theory and the Bose condensate
Laboratory training:
- Vibrational properties of a swinging string and resonance properties of diapasons.
- The resonance conditions in electronic circuits.
- Diffraction of light from a one and a two dimensional lattice.
- Low energy electron diffraction from a crystalline surface.
- Measurement of the Hall effect.
- Measurement of the threshold frequency in photoemission.
Aims
Achieving a thorough understanding of the properties of solids at the microscopic level. Students will master the concepts of crystal lattice, lattice dynamics, and electronic band structure. The correlations of crystal lattice and bandstructure with a) , dielectric response and electronic excitations and, b) metallic, semiconductor and insulator behavior will be highlighted. The effects of electronic correlation will be introduced to explain the magnetic properties and excitations, as well as the origin of metallic, semiconductor and insulatorsuperconductivity. Lattice dynamics, excited electronic states behavior and optical properties will be discussed. Experimental as well as theoretical characterization methods will be introduced. The main physical synthesis and functionalization techniques will be discussed.
Pre-requiste
Mathematics: Solution of linear and differential equations. Fourier analysis.
General Physics: Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, and Waves.
Quantum Mechanics: quantum state and quantum numbers for a well and for an atom, Hamiltonian and Schroedinger equation, harmonic approximation, Heisenberg indetermination and Pauli exclusion principle, and perturbation theory.
Recommended Books
- Steve, H. Simon: Lecture notes for Solid State Physics for all topics up to magnetism
- H. Ibach, H. Lueth Solid State Physics for dielectric theory and superconductivity
- Additional material will be provided by the lecturer.
Teaching Staff
Prof. Mario Rocca
Hours
Lectures: 40 hours
Laboratory: 20 hours
Student hours for the students 90h.
Grading System
Laboratory reports 20%
Final oral exam: 80%
