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Module

PHY2024 : Principles of Materials and Solid-State Physics

  • Offered for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Leo Tsui
  • Owning School: Mathematics, Statistics and Physics
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 2 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 5.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

This module aims to provide students with background necessary to understand solid state materials and their physical properties, with the main emphasis on crystalline materials.

Outline Of Syllabus

Atomic structure and Chemical bonding (atomic models, periodic table, ionic, covalent, metallic bonding, van der Waals and hydrogen bonding);
Crystal structure (lattice vectors, unit cell, miller indices, Bravais lattices, reciprocal lattice, Brillouin zone);
Wave scattering (diffraction, Bragg’s law, Laue equations, Ewald sphere, X-ray diffraction);
Lattice vibrations (1D monatomic chain, 1D diatomic chain, optical and acoustic phonon modes, periodic potentials, density of states, energy bands);
Thermal and electronic properties (Einstein model, Debye model, Drude theory, Sommerfeld theory)

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion151:0015:00Completion of in course assignments
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture21:002:00Revision Lectures
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture201:0020:00Formal Lectures
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study631:0063:00Preparation time for lectures, background reading, coursework review
Total100:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures are used for the delivery of theory and explanation of methods, illustrated with examples, and for giving general feedback on marked work.

The teaching methods are appropriate to allow students to develop a wide range of skills, from understanding basic concepts and facts to higher-order thinking.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Written Examination1202A80N/A
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Prob solv exercises2M6Problem-solving exercises assessment
Prob solv exercises2M7Problem-solving exercises assessment
Prob solv exercises2M7Problem-solving exercises assessment
Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Description Semester When Set Comment
Practical/lab report2MProblem Exercises - Formative Assessment
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

A substantial formal unseen examination is appropriate for the assessment of the material in this module. The format of the examination will enable students to reliably demonstrate their own knowledge, understanding and application of learning outcomes. The assurance of academic integrity forms a necessary part of programme accreditation.

Examination problems may require a synthesis of concepts and strategies from different sections, while they may have more than one ways for solution. The examination time allows the students to test different strategies, work out examples and gather evidence for deciding on an effective strategy, while carefully articulating their ideas and explicitly citing the theory they are using.

The coursework assignments allow the students to develop their problem solving techniques, to practise the methods learnt in the module, to assess their progress and to receive feedback; these assessments have a secondary formative purpose as well as their primary summative purpose.

Reading Lists

Timetable