PHY2024 : Principles of Materials and Solid-State Physics
- Offered for Year: 2021/22
- Incoming Study Abroad and Exchange students must contact and seek approval from school prior to enrolling
- Module Leader(s): Dr Ahmet Avsar
- Owning School: Mathematics, Statistics and Physics
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 5.0 |
Aims
To enhance the students' knowledge of materials and to strengthen their understanding of important material types (e.g. metals, semiconductors etc))
Outline Of Syllabus
What holds matter together?
Ionic and covalent bonding; Metallic bonding; Van der Walls and Hydrogen bonding.
Lattice vibrations:
1D monoatomic chains; 1D diatomic chains; phonons; phonon modes.
Crystal structure:
Lattice vectors; Unit cell; Bravais Lattices; Reciprocal lattice.
Wave scattering by crystals:
Bragg; Plane spacing; X-Ray diffraction;
Charge transport in materials:
Ion diffusion via lattice defects; Electrons in metals: Drude and Sommerfeld theory.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | Formal Lectures – Present in Person |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 2 | 1:00 | 2:00 | Revision Lectures – Present in Person |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 37 | 1:00 | 37:00 | Completion of in course assignments/ examination revision |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 41 | 1:00 | 41:00 | Preparation time for lectures, background reading, coursework review |
| Total | 100:00 |
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.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Examination | 120 | 2 | A | 80 | N/A |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 2 | M | 20 | 5 problem sheets, equally weighted to 4% each. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
A substantial formal unseen examination is appropriate for the assessment of the material in this module. 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.
In the event of on-campus examinations not being possible, an on-line alternative assessment will be used for written examination 1.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- PHY2024's Timetable