This textbook provides an exposition of equilibrium thermodynamics and its applications to several areas of physics with particular attention to phase transitions and critical phenomena. The applications include several areas of condensed matter physics and include also a chapter on thermochemistry. Phase transitions and critical phenomena are treated according to the modern development of the field, based on the ideas of universality and on the Widom scaling theory. For each topic, a mean-field or Landau theory is presented to describe qualitatively the phase transitions. These theories include the van der Waals theory of the liquid-vapor transition, the Hildebrand-Heitler theory of regular mixtures, the Griffiths-Landau theory for multicritical points in multicomponent systems, the Bragg-Williams theory of order-disorder in alloys, the Weiss theory of ferromagnetism, the Neel theory of antiferromagnetism, the Devonshire theory for ferroelectrics and Landau-de Gennes theory of liquid crystals. This new edition presents expanded sections on phase transitions, liquid crystals and magnetic systems, for all problems detailed solutions are provided. It is intended for students in physics and chemistry and provides a unique combination of thorough theoretical explanation and presentation of applications in both areas. Chapter summaries, highlighted essentials and problems with solutions enable a self sustained approach and deepen the knowledge. It is intended for students in physics and chemistry and provides a unique combination of thorough theoretical explanation and presentation of applications in both areas. Chapter summaries, highlighted essentials and problems with solutions enable a self sustained approach and deepen the knowledge.

This is perhaps the most comprehensive undergraduate textbook on the fundamental aspects of solid state electronics. It presents basic and state-of-the-art topics on materials physics, device physics, and basic circuit building blocks not covered by existing textbooks on the subject. Each topic is introduced with a historical background and motivations of device invention and circuit evolution. Fundamental physics is rigorously discussed with minimum need of tedious algebra and advanced mathematics. Another special feature is a systematic classification of fundamental mechanisms not found even in advanced texts. It bridges the gap between solid state device physics covered here with what students have learnt in their first two years of study.Used very successfully in a one-semester introductory core course for electrical and other engineering, materials science and physics junior students, the second part of each chapter is also used in an advanced undergraduate course on solid state devices. The inclusion of previously unavailable analyses of the basic transistor digital circuit building blocks and cells makes this an excellent reference for engineers to look up fundamental concepts and data, design formulae, and latest devices such as the GeSi heterostructure bipolar transistors.

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the two fundamental aspects of a solid that determine its physical properties: lattice structure and atomic vibrations (phonons). The elements of group theory are extensively developed and used as a tool to show how the symmetry of a solid and the vibrations of the atoms in the solid lead to the physical properties of the material. The uses of different types of spectroscopy techniques that elucidate the lattice structure of a solid and the normal vibrational modes of the atoms in the solid are described. The interaction of light with solids (optical spectroscopy) is described in detail including how lattice symmetry and phonons affect the spectral properties and how spectral properties provide information about the material's symmetry and normal modes of lattice vibrations. The effects of point defects (doping) on the lattice symmetry and atomic vibrations and thus the spectral properties are discussed and used to show how material symmetry and lattice vibrations are critical in determining the properties of solid state lasers.

Understand the Physics of the Solid StateUpdated and expanded with new topics, The Materials Physics Companion, 2nd Edition puts the physics of the solid state within the reach of students by offering an easy-to-navigate pathway from basic knowledge through to advanced concepts. This edition illustrates how electrical and magnetic properties of matter arise from the basic principles of quantum mechanics in a way that is accessible to science and engineering students. A Convenient, Student-Friendly Format Rich with Diagrams and Clear ExplanationsThe book uses the unique signature style of the author's other companion books, providing detailed graphics, simple and clear explanations of difficult concepts, and annotated mathematical treatments. It covers quantum mechanics, x-ray analysis, solid-state physics, the mechanical and thermal properties of solids, the electrical and magnetic properties of solids, and superconductivity, assuming no prior knowledge of these advanced areas. Suitable for undergraduate students in science and engineering, the book is also a handy refresher for professional scientists and educators. Be sure to check out the author's other companion books: The Mathematics Companion: Mathematical Methods for Physicists and Engineers, 2nd Edition The Physics Companion, 2nd Edition The Electronics Companion: Devices and Circuits for Physicists and Engineers, 2nd Edition The Chemistry Companion

This book gives a systematic overview on the scientific fundamentals of crystal growth from the classical phenomenological description to the recent theoretical contributions of statistical physics such as studies on surface roughening and on the pattern formation in the diffusion-limited growth.The book emphasizes physical concepts as well as mathematical details, and is intended to serve as lecture notes for postgraduate courses.

This unique volume presents the scientific progress, state-of-art technology, and thrust areas to be focused in electrorheology (ER) and magentorheology (MR). In the last couple of years, this area produced significant impacts on automobile industry, bridge and building construction, aerospace industry, and defense industry. Recent innovation in this area lead to new technology, which has great impact on energy production and energy conservation. This book includes all papers presented at the 12th International Conference on ER Fluids and MR Suspensions, held in Philadelphia, USA, August 16 to 20, 2010, providing a comprehensive overview of this flourishing area. It is an essential source of reference for chemists, engineers, physicists, and materials scientists. It is also suitable for science and engineering students.

This book provides an introduction to the classical, quantum and symmetry aspects of multipole theory, demonstrating the successes of the theory and also its unphysical aspects. It presents a transformation theory, which removes these unphysical properties. The book will be of interest to physics students wishing to advance their knowledge of multipole theory, and also a useful reference work for molecular and optical physicists, theoretical chemists working on multipole effects, solid state physicists studying the effects of electromagnetic fields on condensed matter, engineers and applied mathematicians with interests in anisotrpoic materials. An interesting recent development has been the increasing use of computer calculations in applications of multipole theory. The book should assist computational physicists and chemists wishing to work in this area to acquire the necessary background in multipole theory.

This book covers the important contributions of the Chinese during the development of high-temperature superconductors (HTS). The study of Y-based HTS, which was the first to be reported internationally at a liquid nitrogen temperature above 90 K, has retained the world record for superconducting transition temperatures. The book covers the study of superconducting energy gap, microscopic electron non-uniformity, ARPES research, 'kinks' research, eHigh-T . In order to provide a comprehensive introduction to the physical properties of condensed matter, this book also includes studies on the thermodynamic properties of high-temperature superconductors, low-temperature heat transport, and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, this book includes important topics in theoretical studies, including the study of the magnetic and superconductivity of iron-based materials, the non-diagonal long procedure in condensed quantum phases, and the creation of oxygen sites in the CuO2 plane. Rotational fluctuations lead to the study of superconducting states. This book is suitable for researchers and graduate students in condensed matter physics, materials science, optics and other fields.

Within a unifying framework, Diffusion: Formalism and Applications covers both classical and quantum domains, along with numerous applications. The author explores the more than two centuries-old history of diffusion, expertly weaving together a variety of topics from physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology.

The book examines the two distinct paradigms of diffusion physical and stochastic introduced by Fourier and Laplace and later unified by Einstein in his groundbreaking work on Brownian motion. The author describes the role of diffusion in probability theory and stochastic calculus and discusses topics in materials science and metallurgy, such as defect-diffusion, radiation damage, and spinodal decomposition. In addition, he addresses the impact of translational/rotational diffusion on experimental data and covers reaction-diffusion equations in biology. Focusing on diffusion in the quantum domain, the book also investigates dissipative tunneling, Landau diamagnetism, coherence-to-decoherence transition, quantum information processes, and electron localization."

While the macroscopic phenomenon of superconductivity is well known and in practical use worldwide, the current theoretical paradigm for superconductivity suffers from a number of limitations. For example, there is no currently accepted theoretical explanation for the pattern of superconductor critical temperatures in the periodic table. Historical developments in condensed matter were strongly focused on the similarities of all metals and the electron gas model, with little attention paid to their real differences. Accessible by a wide audience, Superconductivity Revisited explores the work of those who investigated the differences, and laid the foundation for all current and future work. Topics Include Pattern of Elemental Superconductors in the Periodic Table High-Temperature Superconductors Electron Spin in Superconductors Heat Capacity and Magnetic Susceptibility in Superconductors Quantum Foundations of Molecular Electricity and Magnetism Metals and Insulators Electron Transport in Metals Magnetoresistance Quantum Hall Effect Type I and Type II Superconductivity Superconductivity Revisited starts from the foundations and shows that the current theory of the subject cannot explain the pattern of superconductors in the periodic table, as the theory depends on a theory of resistivity not congruent with the Sommerfeld equation. Partial wave scattering is introduced as a route to deal with these issues. The book develops a theory of superconductivity that includes the periodic table. The new, coherent, understandable theory of superconductivity is directly based on thermodynamics, scattering theory, and molecular quantum mechanics.

This fourth edition is primarily aimed at helping physicists, physical chemists, materials scientists, metallurgists, engineers, and biologists to carry out investigations at low temperatures. This new edition takes into account the major changes in cryogenic technology over the past twenty years. These changes include areas of temperature measurement and control, superconducting magnets, cryocoolers, ultra-low temperatures, technical data on materials, commercially available cryostats for optical, x-ray, thermal and electrical measurements. Less emphasis is now placed on methods of constructing cryostats in the laboratory and more emphasis on commercially available cryostats, temperature controllers, and closed circuit cryocoolers. The book contains comprehensive, up-to-date tables of physical property data on metals, polymers, and ceramics. It will be of value to graduate students as well as to engineers and biologists facing cryogenic problems.

Even a hundred years after its discovery, superconductivity continues to bring us new surprises, from superconducting magnets used in MRI to quantum detectors in electronics. 100 Years of Superconductivity presents a comprehensive collection of topics on nearly all the subdisciplines of superconductivity. Tracing the historical developments in superconductivity, the book includes contributions from many pioneers who are responsible for important steps forward in the field.

The text first discusses interesting stories of the discovery and gradual progress of theory and experimentation. Emphasizing key developments in the early 1950s and 1960s, the book looks at how superconductivity started to permeate society and how most of today s applications are based on the innovations of those years. It also explores the genuine revolution that occurred with the discovery of high temperature superconductors, leading to emerging applications in power storage and fusion reactors.

Superconductivity has become a vast field and this full-color book shows how far it has come in the past 100 years. Along with reviewing significant research and experiments, leading scientists share their insight and experiences working in this exciting and evolving area."

The book explains concepts and ideas of mathematics and physics that are relevant for advanced students and researchers of condensed matter physics. With this aim, a brief intuitive introduction to many-body theory is given as a powerful qualitative tool for understanding complex systems. The important emergent concept of a quasiparticle is then introduced as a way to reduce a many-body problem to a single particle quantum problem. Examples of quasiparticles in graphene, superconductors, superfluids and in a topological insulator on a superconductor are discussed.The mathematical idea of self-adjoint extension, which allows short distance information to be included in an effective long distance theory through boundary conditions, is introduced through simple examples and then applied extensively to analyse and predict new physical consequences for graphene.The mathematical discipline of topology is introduced in an intuitive way and is then combined with the methods of differential geometry to show how the emergence of gapless states can be understood. Practical ways of carrying out topological calculations are described.

This book concentrates on the luminescence and structural properties of the new generation of europium and terbium activated phosphors, associated phenomena, and related topics, from basic principles to the most recent discoveries. It summarizes the present state of the art in this rapidly growing field. The authors describe recent developments in the areas of rare earth doped phosphors and of some new materials or well-known materials with improved properties that open up new possibilities. The areas of focus include X-ray phosphors, phosphors for light-emitting devices, emissive displays, and ?uorescent lamps. The book comprises theoretical and experimental analysis of various properties of phosphors, research methods and preparation techniques, and some promising applications.

This book discusses many of the common scaling properties observed in some nonlinear dynamical systems mostly described by mappings. The unpredictability of the time evolution of two nearby initial conditions in the phase space together with the exponential divergence from each other as time goes by lead to the concept of chaos. Some of the observables in nonlinear systems exhibit characteristics of scaling invariance being then described via scaling laws. From the variation of control parameters, physical observables in the phase space may be characterized by using power laws that many times yield into universal behavior. The application of such a formalism has been well accepted in the scientific community of nonlinear dynamics. Therefore I had in mind when writing this book was to bring together few of the research results in nonlinear systems using scaling formalism that could treated either in under-graduation as well as in the post graduation in the several exact programs but no earlier requirements were needed from the students unless the basic physics and mathematics. At the same time, the book must be original enough to contribute to the existing literature but with no excessive superposition of the topics already dealt with in other text books. The majority of the Chapters present a list of exercises. Some of them are analytic and others are numeric with few presenting some degree of computational complexity.

Liquid crystal displays were discovered in the 1960s, and today we continue to enjoy the benefits of that fundamental discovery and its translation into a wide variety of products. Like liquid crystals, polymers are unusual materials, and have similarly enjoyed a great deal of research attention because of their vast applications and uses and complex fundamental properties. The combination of liquid crystal and polymer properties produces a broad array of new effects-spanning from densely crosslinked, rigid polymer networks to weakly crosslinked elastomers-that are not simply manifestations of either native liquid crystals or polymers alone. Cross-Linked Liquid Crystalline Systems brings together liquid crystal and polymer systems and their variations. The field, much like traditional liquid crystals, is one of an interdisciplinary nature with a broad spectrum, from the very fundamental questions of nature to a myriad of practical uses. There seems to be no shortage of unusual properties and far-reaching applications in densely crossed-linked liquid crystal systems and liquid crystal elastomers. These systems provide a rich new avenue for both fundamental and applied research and continue to fascinate scientists and engineers. Specifically, this book covers: Cross-linked networks created from reactive mesogen materials Manipulation of liquid crystalline by external constraints Advances in liquid crystal display screen technology Physical and electromagnetic properties of elastomers and magnetic gels Computer simulations and theory of liquid crystal polymeric networks and elastomers Side-on nematic liquid-crystalline elastomers for artificial muscle applications Liquid crystal display technology has driven much of the fundamental research in crosslinked liquid crystalline systems. The systems' ability to enforce three-di

Nanoscale Magnetic Materials and Applications covers exciting new developments in the field of advanced magnetic materials. Readers will find valuable reviews of the current experimental and theoretical work on novel magnetic structures, nanocomposite magnets, spintronic materials, domain structure and domain-wall motion, in addition to nanoparticles and patterned magnetic recording media.

Cutting-edge applications in the field are described by leading experts from academic and industrial communities. These include new devices based on domain wall motion, magnetic sensors derived from both giant and tunneling magnetoresistance, thin film devices in micro-electromechanical systems, and nanoparticle applications in biomedicine.

In addition to providing an introduction to the advances in magnetic materials and applications at the nanoscale, this volume also presents emerging materials and phenomena, such as magnetocaloric and ferromagnetic shape memory materials, which motivate future development in this exciting field.

Nanoscale Magnetic Materials and Applications also features a foreword written by Peter Grunberg, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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Semiconducting oxides and nitrides are becoming the most important s- jects in materials science. In particular, zinc oxide (ZnO), gallium nitride (GaN), and related compounds form a novel class of semiconductors which possess unique properties in terms of crystallography, crystal growth, op- cal properties, electrical properties, magnetic properties, and so forth. These uniquepropertiesmakethesematerialsquiteimportantinoptoelectronicsand electronics. Although for more than three decades oxide and nitride semiconductors have been known to possess unique properties, it is only recently that these materials have been exploited to fabricate novel electronic and optical - vices, which havenever been possible with other semiconductors. It should be mentioned that revolutionary breakthroughs in materials science have been madebeforethe remarkabledevelopmentofsuchdevices.In particular, recent breakthrough and advance in epitaxy, bulk growth, and synthesis of nan- tructures coupled with exploration and investigation on structural, optical, and electrical properties, enabled us to achieve novel display, general lig- ing, optical storage, high-speed, -temperature and -power electronics, bio and environmental sensors, and energy generating and saving devices. The unique structure of this book is that each chapter addresses both oxides and nitrides, which, we believe, will help readers gain comprehensive and comparative information on oxide and nitride semiconductors. This book consists of ten chapters, addressing the basic properties of materials, bulk growth, ?lm growth, polarityissues, nonpolar?lms, structuraldefects, optical properties, electrical properties, light emitting diodes, and nanostructures. Thus the book covers processing, properties, and applications of materials based on ZnO, GaN, and related compoun

Worldwide, many researchers are fascinated from the rich physics of se- conductor quantum dots (QDs) and their high potential for applications in photonics and quantum information technology. QDs are nanometer-sized three-dimensional structures which con?ne electrons and holes in dimensions oftheircorrespondingDeBrogliewavelength.Asaresult,theenergylevelsare quantized and for that reason they are also often referred as arti?cial atoms. Epitaxially grown QDs which are the subject of this book are embedded in a solid state semiconductor matrix and their size, shape, composition, and lo- tion can be tailored to a large extent by modern growth techniques. In QDs, excitations can involve more than a single carrier and interaction among the carriers modify or even dominate the emission properties. Therefore, a simple two-level description is only appropriate under certain well de?ned expe- mental conditions. Tremendous progress has been obtained in understanding their electronic, optical and spin properties mainly by performing single dot spectroscopy and using appropriate theoretical models.

This book offers a didactic and a self-contained treatment of the physics of liquid and flowing matter with a statistical mechanics approach. Experimental and theoretical methods that were developed to study fluids are now frequently applied to a number of more complex systems generically referred to as soft matter. As for simple liquids, also for complex fluids it is important to understand how their macroscopic behavior is determined by the interactions between the component units. Moreover, in recent years new and relevant insights have emerged from the study of anomalous phases and metastable states of matter. In addition to the traditional topics concerning fluids in normal conditions, the authors of this book discuss recent developments in the field of disordered systems in condensed and soft matter. In particular they emphasize computer simulation techniques that are used in the study of soft matter and the theories and study of slow glassy dynamics. For these reasons the book includes a specific chapter about metastability, supercooled liquids and glass transition. The book is written for graduate students and active researchers in the field.

This book gives an overview on the fundamentals and recent developments in the field of luminescent materials. Starting from the definitions and properties of phosphors, novel application areas as well as spectroscopic methods for characterization will be described. The reader will benefit from the vast knowledge of the authors with backgrounds in industry as well as academia.

Two topics in the forefront of superconductor research--superconductor-insulator transition in thin films and vortex tunneling in granular, bulk, and high temperature superconductors--have never before been given a unified and deductive treatment. This monograph and text provides a much-needed, comprehensive introduction to the theory of quantum fluctuations in inhomogenous superconducting materials. It be will be of great use to students and researchers in disciplines such as superconductivity, many-body systems, phase transitions, submicron physics, and surface science.

This landmark work chronicles the origin and evolution of solid state physics, which grew to maturity between 1920 and 1960. The book examines the early roots of the field in industrial, scientific and artistic efforts and traces them through the 1950s, when many physicists around the world recognized themselves as members of a distinct subfield of physics research centered on solids. The book opens with an account of scientific and social developments that preceded the discovery of quantum mechanics, including the invention of new experimental means for studying solids and the establishment of the first industrial laboratories. The authors set the stage for the modern era by detailing the formulation of the quantum field theory of solids. The core of the book examines six major themes: the band theory of solids; the phenomenology of imperfect crystals; the puzzle of the plastic properties of solids, solved by the discovery of dislocations; magnetism; semiconductor physics; and collective phenomena, the context in which old puzzles such as superconductivity and superfluidity were finally solved. All readers interested in the history of science will find this absorbing volume an essential resource for understanding the emergence of contemporary physics.