Introduction to Solid State Physics

Citation

Kittel, C. (2004). Introduction to Solid State Physics (8th ed.). Wiley.

Chapter Summary

The eighth edition has 22 chapters and ten appendices in 704 pages. Most chapters end with a summary and a set of problems. The publisher states that the emphasis has always been on physics rather than formal mathematics, and that the goal is a book accessible to undergraduates and consistently teachable. The order runs from crystal structure and lattice vibrations to electrons in metals and semiconductors, then to superconductivity, magnetism, optical and dielectric properties, and finally to surfaces, nanostructures, disorder and defects.

Chapters 1–3: Crystal Structure; Wave Diffraction and the Reciprocal Lattice; Crystal Binding and Elastic Constants

Lattices and bases, the fundamental lattice types, common structures (sodium chloride, caesium chloride, hexagonal close-packed, diamond, cubic zinc sulfide); then Bragg diffraction, reciprocal lattice vectors and Brillouin zones, structure factors; then binding in inert-gas, ionic, covalent and metallic crystals and the analysis of elastic strain.

Chapters 4–5: Phonons I. Crystal Vibrations; Phonons II. Thermal Properties

Vibrations of monatomic and diatomic chains, quantization of elastic waves and phonon momentum; then phonon heat capacity, the Debye and Einstein models, anharmonic effects, thermal expansion and thermal conductivity, including umklapp processes.

Chapters 6–7: Free Electron Fermi Gas; Energy Bands

The free-electron gas: Fermi–Dirac distribution, heat capacity, electrical conductivity, the Hall effect. Chapter 7 develops band theory through the nearly-free-electron model, Bloch functions, the Kronig–Penney model and the central equation, ending with metals and insulators.

Chapters 8–9: Semiconductor Crystals; Fermi Surfaces and Metals

Band gaps, holes, effective mass, intrinsic carriers and donor and acceptor states, with a closing set of topics from thermoelectric effects to superlattices and Bloch oscillators. Chapter 9 covers construction of Fermi surfaces, tight-binding, Wigner–Seitz and pseudopotential methods, and the de Haas–van Alphen effect.

Chapters 10–12: Superconductivity; Diamagnetism and Paramagnetism; Ferromagnetism and Antiferromagnetism

The experimental survey and the theory of superconductivity, from the London equation to BCS theory, type II superconductors and Josephson effects. The two magnetism chapters cover Langevin diamagnetism, paramagnetism and crystal-field effects, then ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic order, magnons and domains.

Chapters 13–16: Magnetic Resonance; Plasmons, Polaritons, and Polarons; Optical Processes and Excitons; Dielectrics and Ferroelectrics

Nuclear and electron resonance with a section on masers and lasers; collective excitations and screening; optical reflectance, Kramers–Kronig relations, excitons and Raman effects; and dielectric polarization, local fields and ferroelectric phase transitions.

Chapters 17–18: Surface and Interface Physics; Nanostructures

Chapter 17 covers surface reconstruction, the quantized Hall effects, p–n junctions, heterostructures, light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers. Chapter 18, new in this edition and written by Paul McEuen, treats imaging techniques, electronic structure and transport in one- and zero-dimensional systems, the Landauer formula, Coulomb oscillations and the vibrational properties of nanostructures.

Chapters 19–22: Noncrystalline Solids; Point Defects; Dislocations; Alloys

Glasses and amorphous materials, vacancies, diffusion and colour centres, dislocations and the strength of materials, and alloys with phase diagrams. Appendices A to J treat topics including Ewald lattice sums, phonon quantization, the Fermi–Dirac distribution, the Boltzmann transport equation, Cooper pairs and the Ginzburg–Landau equation.

Key Concepts

• Reciprocal lattice and Brillouin zones: the framework for wave diffraction and for all later band and phonon discussions (Chapter 2).
• Phonons: quantized lattice vibrations and their heat capacity (Chapters 4–5).
• Free electron Fermi gas: the simplest model of electrons in metals (Chapter 6).
• Bloch functions and energy bands: electrons in a periodic potential (Chapter 7).
• Holes and effective mass: carriers in semiconductors (Chapter 8).
• Fermi surfaces: their construction and measurement (Chapter 9).
• Superconductivity: London equation, BCS theory and Josephson effects (Chapter 10).
• Magnetic order and magnons: ferro-, ferri- and antiferromagnetism (Chapters 11–12).
• Nanostructures: quantum conductance and Coulomb blockade in reduced dimensions (Chapter 18).

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Physics before formalism. The publisher stresses physical content over formal mathematics, and notes that important equations in this edition are repeated in both SI and CGS-Gaussian units where the two differ.
• Wide coverage in one volume. The 22 chapters touch most of the subject: structure, vibrations, electrons, semiconductors, superconductivity, magnetism, optics, dielectrics, surfaces, defects and alloys.
• A consistent chapter shape. Most chapters end with a summary and a problem set, and the contents subdivide each chapter into many short sections, so topics are easy to locate.
• Nanostructures chapter. The eighth edition adds a chapter on nanophysics by a specialist, which connects the classical material to mesoscopic transport and Coulomb blockade.

Limitations

• Terse treatment. With 22 chapters in 704 pages, chapters average about 30 pages and many topics get sections of only a few pages, as the contents show. A reader who wants a fuller, step-by-step development of a topic will need a companion book.
• Recent developments. The nanophysics chapter is the addition the publisher singles out; topological phases and many-body developments of recent decades do not appear in the contents.
• Prerequisites. Wiley describes the book as accessible to undergraduates, while the site lists intermediate quantum and statistical mechanics; the appendices on phonon quantization with creation and annihilation operators and on the Boltzmann transport equation presuppose that background.

Where It Fits in the Course

Kittel is the established general textbook of the subject and the usual reference point for the other books in this course. Hofmann's Solid State Physics: An Introduction is a short, gentle text for students meeting the subject for the first time, and Hook and Hall's Solid State Physics is an introductory text in the Manchester Physics Series that stresses physical reasoning over formal apparatus. Simon's The Oxford Solid State Basics is a compact one-term course that gives its reasoning in full, and Ibach and Lüth's Solid-State Physics pairs the theory with panels on measurement techniques and a materials-science orientation. Any of these can serve as a first pass before Kittel, or as a clearer second explanation of a topic Kittel handles tersely.

Girvin and Yang's Modern Condensed Matter Physics is the graduate-level continuation: it starts from the same foundations but adds mesoscopic physics, topological phases and quantum magnetism, so it is the natural next step after Kittel.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates in physics, materials science and electrical engineering, and also serves as a reference for graduate students. Quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics at an intermediate level are assumed.

A core one-semester path: Chapters 1–2 (structure and diffraction), 4–5 (phonons), 6–9 (electrons, bands, semiconductors and Fermi surfaces), and 10–12 (superconductivity and magnetism). The remaining chapters are largely independent modules: choose among 13–16 (resonance, collective excitations, optics, dielectrics), 17–18 (surfaces and nanostructures) and 19–22 (disordered solids, defects, alloys) according to the course. Chapter 3 can be read selectively. Do the end-of-chapter problems as the chapters are read, and use the index and the many tables of material properties as a reference afterwards.