66190 - Physical Chemistry of the Solid State M

Course contents

Classification of the states of matter. The solid crystal state: Crystal structures: Bravais lattices;unit The crystal symmetry; a structural view of crystal symmetry: bottom-up crystallography in molecular crystals; mathematical representation of crystal symmetry; reciprocal lattice; Bloch functions.

The electronic structure of molecular solids in a simplified form. The band structure; model systems; DOS.

Excited states of aggregates of molecules; Davydov splitting and Mini-Excitons; linear molecular crystals; Frenkel Excitons; physical dimers; Excimers; Band structure; Charge transfer excitons (CT); Exciton processes; Energy transfer.

Vibrations in solids: lattice dynamics; classic description of vibrations of a one dimensional monatomic chain; vibrations of a one dimensional biatomic chain; acoustic and optic branches; extension to a tridimensional crystal. Vibrations in molecular crystals and quantisation of the vibrational energy: Phonons. Quasi particles.

Scattering: phonon-photon scattering and elastic and anelastic processes; X-ray diffraction; phonon-neutron scattering; phonon density of states.

Readings/Bibliography

The Oxford Solid State Basics - Steven H. Simon Oxford University Press

Molecular Aggregation Angelo Gavezzotti - IUCR book series Oxford University Press

Organic Molecular Solids - Markus Schwoerer, Hans Christoph Wolf Wiley-VCH

Electronic Processes in Organic Semiconductors -Anna Köhler and
Heinz Bässler , Wiley-VCH

 

Lecture notes and slides

Assessment methods

Oral Exam, with two questions and the discussion of a research paper chosen by the student and deling with one of the course topic.

Office hours

See the website of Elisabetta Venuti