PHY3023 : Advanced Materials and Solid-State Physics
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Angela Dyson
- Co-Module Leader: Dr Mark Rayson
- 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 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 5.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To further develop the understanding of material concepts and to understand advanced concepts such as band theory and charge transport in metals and semiconductor devices.
Outline Of Syllabus
1. Crystalline Materials
• Crystal lattice
• Reciprocal lattice
• Brillouin zone
2. Free Electrons
• Drude model
• Sommerfeld model
• Fermi Surface
3. Nearly free electrons
• Bloch waves
• Central Equation
• Band gap
4. Semiconductors
• Effective mass
• Charge carriers and dopants
• Simple devices
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 17 | 1:00 | 17:00 | Formal Lectures |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 36 | 1:00 | 36:00 | Completion of in course assignments/ examination revision |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 4 | 2:00 | 8:00 | Student-led completion of worksheets that are connected to module content |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 39 | 1:00 | 39:00 | Preparation time for lectures, background reading, coursework review |
| Total | 100:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
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.
Lectures are used for the delivery of theory and explanation of methods, illustrated with examples. Tutorials are used to support he lectures by providing exposure to worked problems driven by student participation.
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 | 1 | A | 85 | N/A |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 5 | N/A |
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 5 | N/A |
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 5 | N/A |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
A substantial 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 the 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.
Written exercises 1 provide the opportunity for the student to demonstrate their understanding of the lecture course. Closely aligned to tutorial content to ensure consistent engagement throughout the semester. Assessment delivery follows the MSP In-Course, Programme, and Stage Assessment Structure
Exam explores all module teaching outcomes.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- PHY3023's Timetable