NorthWest Universities
Postgraduate Lecture Course in Condensed Matter Physics and Materials
The programme offers the following couses of lectures:
DTC NOWNano
PhD studentships in Nanoscince available at the DTC NOWNano
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- Superconductivity and superfluidity (Autumn term)
- Phonons and neutron scattering in solids (Autumn term)
- Electrons in Solids (Winter term)
- Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics (Winter term)
- Surface Science (Spring term)
Timetable for 2009-2010 academic year
Course coordinator: Prof Vladimir Falko, tel. 01524 593180 or v.falko(at)lancaster.ac.uk
Superconductivity and superfluidity
Andrei Golov (University of Manchester)
24 lectures - assessment: take-home examination
Non-interacting and weakly interacting Bose gases, Bose-Einstein condensation, liquid He-4 and properties of superfluid He-4, ground state and its macroscopic wave function, quantization of circulation and vortices, excitations, Landau criterion for superfluidity, two-fluid model and superfluid hydrodynamics, first and second sound.
Superconducting persistent current and Meissner effect, evidence for energy gap, type I and type II behaviour, thermodynamics, electrodynamics, London theory. Ginsburg-Landau theory, flux quantization, vortex state in superfluids and type II superconductors, thermodynamics of superconductors. Microscopic theory of superconductivity, Cooper problem, BCS theory, thermodynamic properties.
Phonons and neutron scattering in solids
Ian Morrison and Keith Ross (University of Salford)
10 lectures - assessment: coursework
Classical of lattice dynamics, normal modes, dispersion. Quantum theory, specific heat. Anharmonic effects, thermal expansion and thermal conductivity. Infrared and Raman scatteing. Applications to molecular solids and metal hydrides. Properties of the neutron - why useful for condensed matter research - wavelength for thermal neutrons - time of flight. Neutron sources- reactors, pulsed sources - neutron thermalisation. Neutron-nucleus interaction - Fermi pseudo potential and Born approximation - coherent and incoherent scattering - magnetic scattering.
Neutron diffraction - cases where better than XRD - magnetic structures. Small Angle Neutron Scattering for studying non-homogeneities in solids. Neutron reflectometry - magnetic thin films. Van Hove correlation functions. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering to study tracer and chemical diffusion - the Chudley Elliott expression and Monte Carlo simulations. Incoherent inelastic scattering from local oscillators H in Pd. Phonon dispersion curves - the Triple Axis Spectrometer.
Electrons in Solids
Martin Lueders (Daresbury Laboratory)
14 Lectures (not assessed)
Basics of condensed matter physics, electrons in a weak periodic potential, band structure. Tight binding model. Density functional theory and band structure calculations in real materials. Fermi-surface in metals. Semiclassical model of electron dynamics. Cyclotron resonance in metals and semiconductors. Landau levels and Shoubnikov de Haas oscillations; de Haas van Alphen oscillations as a method to study the Fermi surface of metals. Two-dimensional electron systems: quantum confinement of electrons in silicon field transistors and in heterojunctions. New structures created using molecular beam epitaxy.
Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics
Vladimir Falko (Lancaster)
24 lectures (assessment: coursework)
Joint course with DTC NOWNANO
Quantum wells and wires in semiconductors. The conductance quantum and the Buttiker-Landauer conductance formula. Metallic point contacts and atomic break-junctions. Tunnelling and the resonance tunnelling phenomenon. Semiconductor quantum dots.
The Coulomb blockade phenomenon and a single-electron transistor. Parity effect in quantum dots made of a superconductor.
Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. Ferromagnetic insulators and metals. Magnetic memory and readheads. Spin valves, giant magneto-resistance in multilayers of normal and ferromagnetic metals and tunneling magneto-resistance.
Interference and the enhanced backscattering of waves in disordered media. Localisation (weak and strong) in two- and one-dimensional electron systems. Interference effects in multiply-connected circuits and the Aharonov-Bohm effect in small (mesoscopic) metallic/semiconductor rings. Universal conductance fluctuations in small phase-coherent conductors. Ideas of quantum chaos in application to quantum dots.
Hall effect. Non-local effects in a strong magnetic field. Skipping orbits and electron focusing. Landau levels and edge states. The quantum Hall effect and the quantum resistance standard.
Graphene as a new electronic material. Tight-binding model for electronic band structure in graphene. Optical properties and angle-resolved photoemission. Scattering, disorder, and quantum transport in graphene. Carbon nanotubes, metallic and semiconducting properties of nanotubes with various crystalline orientations.
Surface Science
David Martin (University of Liverpool)
A series of lectures which will be organised by Dr. David Martin and run at the University of Liverpool.