Solid-State Physics: An Introduction to Principles of Materials Science

Citation

Ibach, H., & Lüth, H. (2009). Solid-State Physics: An Introduction to Principles of Materials Science (4th ed.). Springer.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition, described in its catalogue record as "extensively updated and enlarged", has 12 chapters on about 530 pages, with 104 problems and eighteen "panels". The panels are separate sections placed at the ends of chapters that describe experimental methods and laboratory practice; the publisher says they highlight experimental aspects and recent developments. Chapter titles below, and the section and panel topics mentioned, follow the printed table of contents.

Chapter 1: Chemical Bonding in Solids

The book starts from the periodic table and the types of bond (covalent, ionic, metallic, hydrogen and van der Waals) rather than from crystal lattices, establishing why solids hold together before describing their structure.

Chapter 2: Structure of Solid Matter

Crystal lattices, point symmetry, the 32 crystal classes and simple crystal structures, followed by two topics with a materials-science emphasis: phase diagrams of alloys and defects in solids.

Chapter 3: Diffraction from Periodic Structures

A general theory of diffraction leads to the reciprocal lattice, the Laue and Bragg conditions, Brillouin zones, the structure factor and methods of structure analysis. Two panels follow: diffraction experiments with various particles, and X-ray interferometry and topography.

Chapter 4: Dynamics of Atoms in Crystals

Lattice vibrations from the interatomic potential and the diatomic linear chain, then phonon spectroscopy by scattering and the elastic properties of crystals. A panel covers Raman spectroscopy.

Chapter 5: Thermal Properties

The phonon density of states, specific heat, anharmonic effects, thermal expansion and heat conduction by phonons, with a panel on experiments at low temperatures.

Chapter 6: "Free" Electrons in Solids

The free-electron gas, Fermi statistics and the electronic specific heat of metals, extended to screening and the Mott transition, and to thermionic emission.

Chapter 7: The Electronic Bandstructure of Solids

Symmetry properties of electron states, the nearly-free-electron and tight-binding approximations, examples of band structures, and the density of states, including non-crystalline solids. A panel describes photoemission spectroscopy.

Chapter 8: Magnetism

Diamagnetism and paramagnetism, the exchange interaction, the band model of ferromagnetism and its temperature dependence, localized ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, spin waves and crystalline anisotropy. Two panels cover magnetostatic spin waves and magnetism in thin films with the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect.

Chapter 9: Motion of Electrons and Transport Phenomena

Effective mass, holes, electron scattering, the Boltzmann equation and relaxation time, electrical conductivity of metals, thermoelectric effects, the Wiedemann–Franz law, conduction by localized electrons and quantum transport in nanostructures. A panel deals with quantum oscillations and the topology of Fermi surfaces.

Chapter 10: Superconductivity

The longest chapter apart from Chapter 12, at about 80 pages. It moves from the basic phenomena and the London equations through Cooper pairs and the BCS ground state to the excitation spectrum, supercurrents, flux quantization, type II superconductors and high-temperature superconductors. Two panels treat single-electron tunnelling and the Josephson effect.

Chapter 11: Dielectric Properties of Materials

The dielectric function, absorption, the harmonic-oscillator model, longitudinal and transverse modes, surface waves, reflectivity, the local field and ferroelectrics, followed by the free-electron gas, interband transitions, excitons and electron energy losses. Three panels cover novel optical materials, infrared spectroscopy and frustrated total reflection.

Chapter 12: Semiconductors

The longest chapter (about 100 pages): properties of important semiconductors, intrinsic and doped carrier densities, conductivity, the p–n junction and Schottky contact, heterostructures and superlattices, and important semiconductor devices. Five panels cover the Hall effect, cyclotron resonance, Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations and the quantum Hall effect, semiconductor epitaxy and the preparation of nanostructures.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–5: Structure and Lattice

• Chemical bonding: the types of bond that hold solids together, the book's starting point.
• Reciprocal lattice and Brillouin zones: the framework for diffraction and for electron and phonon states.
• Phonons: quantized lattice vibrations, measured by scattering and responsible for heat capacity and heat conduction.
• Defects and phase diagrams: the departures from perfect crystals that matter for real materials.

Chapters 6–9: Electrons

• Fermi gas: the free-electron model of metals and its statistics.
• Band structure: electron energy levels in a periodic potential, approached from the nearly-free-electron and tight-binding limits.
• Exchange interaction: the origin of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.
• Boltzmann equation: the description of transport through scattering and relaxation times.

Chapters 10–12: Superconductors, Dielectrics and Semiconductors

• BCS theory: the Cooper-pair description of superconductivity.
• Dielectric function: the response of a solid to electromagnetic fields, from lattice vibrations to electronic transitions.
• Doping and the p–n junction: control of carrier densities and the basis of semiconductor devices.
• Heterostructures and superlattices: layered semiconductor structures.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Experiment alongside theory. The eighteen panels, from diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to photoemission, tunnelling and epitaxy, describe how the quantities of each chapter are measured or how structures are made. The publisher presents this as the book's distinctive feature, and it suits readers who will work in laboratories.
• Materials-science orientation. As the subtitle states, the book connects solid-state physics to materials: alloy phase diagrams and defects in Chapter 2, devices in Chapter 12, and thin-film magnetism and nanostructures in panels. The publisher addresses it to students of physics, materials science and electrical engineering.
• Strong treatment of semiconductors and superconductivity. Chapters 10 and 12 together occupy about a third of the book, covering BCS theory, Josephson tunnelling, heterostructures and devices at length.
• Problems in every chapter. Each chapter ends with problems, 104 in all.

Limitations

• Demanding mathematical level. The book appeared in Springer's "Advanced Texts in Physics" series, and topics such as the BCS ground state and the Boltzmann equation assume undergraduate quantum mechanics, electromagnetism and statistical physics.
• A 2009 edition. The fourth edition predates later developments such as topological materials, which do not appear in its table of contents. Readers who need them must turn to newer texts.
• Panels are optional by design. The experimental panels sit outside the main line of argument, so a course must decide which to assign; students reading only the main chapters lose much of the experimental emphasis.

Where It Fits in the Course

Ibach and Lüth suits a second course in solid-state physics, or a first course for students with strong quantum mechanics and an interest in experiment and materials. Three books in this course list are gentler: Hofmann's Solid State Physics: An Introduction is a short first text with minimal formalism; Simon's The Oxford Solid State Basics grew out of a one-term undergraduate course; and Hook and Hall's Solid State Physics stresses physical reasoning over formal apparatus. Reading one of these first makes Chapters 6–9 of Ibach and Lüth easier.

Kittel's Introduction to Solid State Physics covers much the same physical ground in a compact, physics-first style; Ibach and Lüth differs mainly in its experimental panels and materials emphasis, and the two can be used side by side. Girvin and Yang's Modern Condensed Matter Physics is the graduate-level next step, adding topological phases, quantum Hall physics and quantum magnetism beyond what Ibach and Lüth covers.

How to Use This Book

The book is aimed at physics, materials-science and electrical-engineering students who have taken quantum mechanics, electromagnetism and statistical physics.

A practical plan:

• Core sequence: Chapters 1–7 in order give bonding, structure, diffraction, phonons, thermal properties, free electrons and band theory, the foundation of any solid-state course.
• Then choose by interest: Chapter 9 (transport) and Chapter 12 (semiconductors) for electronics and devices; Chapter 8 for magnetism; Chapter 10 for superconductivity; Chapter 11 for optical properties.
• Assign panels selectively: pick the panels linked to experiments students will meet, such as diffraction (Panel I), photoemission (Panel V) or the Hall effect (Panel XIV).

Work the problems at the end of each chapter. Because the book is dense, it helps to read a gentler text such as Simon or Hook and Hall on the same topic first, and to use Kittel as a second explanation when a derivation is unclear.