COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus

Department of Physics

COURSE HANDBOOK

1 Course Title Solid State Physics I

2 Course Code PHY366
3 Credit Hours 03
4 Semester Spring2025
5 Resource Person Dr. Muhammad Aamir Razaq
6 Supporting Team Members N.A.
7 Contact Hours 3 hours per week
8 Office Hours 9.00 to 01.00 Monday to Friday
9 Course Introduction
This module is particularly designed for BS Physics students to give introduction of
fundamental properties of solids. These parts of science exist under the cover of Solid State
Physics.

10 Learning Objectives
The objective of this course is to understand structure of materials, defects in materials,
and introduction to materials characterization. Structure of materials covers the
fundamentals of crystallography and diffraction. Defect in materials include deformation,
electrical, magnetic, optical, and chemical properties, as well as the rates of diffusion in
solids.
11 Course content

.
1
Recommended books

• Introduction to Solid State Physics by Charles Kittel, 7th edition, Wiley New York
• Solid State Physics by Ashcroft, Harcourt College Publishers
• Solid State Physics by A. J. Dekkor, Prentice Hall
• Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications by Muhammad Ali
Omar 4th Edition
• Solid State Physics(Introduction to Theory) Second Edition by James Patterson
Bernard Bailey

12 Lecture Breakup

Weeks Topic of Lecture/lab Reading

Assignment
Week 1 • Introduction of course Text and Referred
• Crystal Structure books
• Lattices and basis Handouts
• Symmetry Operations
• Fundamental Type of Lattices

Week 2 • Position and Orientation of Crystal Structure Text and Referred

• Simple crystal structures books
• Direct Imaging of Crystal Structure using TEM Handouts
(basic idea)
• Non-ideal Crystals

Week 3 • Crystal Diffraction Text and Referred

• Reciprocal lattice books
• Diffraction of XRays, Neutron and Electron Handouts
from Crystal
• Bragg’s Law
• Laue equations

Week 4 • Ewald Constructon Text and Referred

• Brillouin zone books
• Fourier Analysis of basis Handouts
• structure factor,
• form factor and dependence of the diffracted
intensity on the basis atoms

2
Week 5 • Assignment 1
• Quiz 1
• crystal binding
• types of bonding in crystals, ionic, covalent,
metallic, hydrogen and van der Waals bonding
with examples from real systems,
• energies of different types of bonding
• cohesive energies
• Madelung constant
• equilibrium lattice constants
• basic ideas of elastic constants, atomic radii

Week 6 • Assignment 2
• Quiz 2 Text and Referred
• Analysis of elastic strains, books
• elastic compliance and stiffness constants Handouts
elastic waves in crystals, group velocity long
wavelength limit
Week 7 • Revision
• Midterm Exam

Week 8 • optical and acoustic branches

• dispersion curves Text and Referred
• quantization of elastic waves books
• Phonons Handouts
• phonon momentum
• inelastic scattering by phonons
• lattice vibrations for mono-atomic and diatomic
basis
• optical properties in the infrared region
Week 9 • thermal properties of solids
• Planck distribution Text and Referred
• Lattice heat capacity books
• Classical model Handouts
• Einstein model
• numeration of normal modes
• density of state in one, two or three
dimensions
• general result for density of states

Week 10 • Assignment 3
• Quiz 3
• Debye model of heat capacity Text and Referred
• comparison with experimental results books
Handouts

3
• Anharmonic effects e.g. thermal expansion,
change of vibration frequencies, and interaction
between phonons
• thermal conductivity and resistivity

Week 11 • Umklapp processes

• electrical properties of metals Text and Referred
• degenerate Fermi gas books
• classical free electron theory of metals, energy Handouts
levels and density of orbitals in one dimension
• effect of temperature on the Fermi-Dirac
distribution function
Week 12 • free electron gas in three dimensions, properties
of the free electron gas
• heat capacity of free electron gas, electrical
conductivity and Ohm's law
• thermal and electrical conductivities of metals
and their ratio
• motion of free electrons in magnetic fields
Week 13 • cyclotron frequency Text and Referred
• static magnetoconductivity books
• Hall effect along with applications, Handouts
• energy bands,nearly free electron model
• Assignment 4(Presentation)
• Quiz 4 (Report Writing)
Week 14 • Bloch functions Text and Referred
• Kronig-Penney model books
• wave equation of electron in a periodic Handouts
potential
• number of orbitals in a band.
• Assignment 4(Presentation)
• Quiz 4 (Report Writing)
Week 15 • Assignment 4(Presentation) Text and Referred
• Quiz 4 (Report Writing) books
Handouts
Week 16 • Assignment 4(Presentation)
• Quiz 4( Report Writing)

13 Lab Schedule
Weeks Name of Experiments

N /A
14. Course Assessment
The assessment of this module shall have following breakdown structure

Midterm examination 25%

4
Assignments /Quizzes 25%
Terminal Examination 50%

The minimum pass marks for this course shall be 50%. Students obtaining less than 50% marks in
this course shall be deemed to have failed in the course.
Note: The marks to be assigned to students shall be in whole numbers and are not same as
followed in the annual system of CUI Lahore.
15. Quiz/Assessment Schedule
Week 5 1st Quiz/ 1st Assignment
Week 8 2nd Quiz/ 2nd Assignment
Week 12 3rd Quiz/ 3rd Assignment
Week 16 4th Quiz/ 4th Assignment

16. Format of Assignment

Assignments should be formatted according to parameters and details provided in class.
Broadly, the assignment will be assessed on the following parameters: presentation, power
of expression, skills, knowledge and understanding.

17. Text Book Introduction to Solid State Physics by Charles Kittel, 8th
edition, Wiley New York
18. Reference Books 1. N. W. Ashcroft and N. D. Mennin, Solid State
Physics, Rinehart & Winston (1976)
2. S. R. Elliott, The Physics and Chemistry of Solids,
John Wiley ( 1998)
3. M.A. Omar. Elementary Solid State Physics:
Principles and Applications, Pearson Education
(2000)
4. 1-1. M. Rosenberg. The Solid State, Oxford
Science Publication, yct ed. ( 1988)
19. Plagiarism
Plagiarism involves the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work, usually in coursework,
and passing it off as if it were one’s own. Many students who submit apparently plagiarised
work probably do so inadvertently without realising it because of poorly developed study
skills, including note taking, referencing and citations; this is poor academic practice rather
than malpractice. Some students, particularly those from different cultures and educational
systems, find UK academic referencing/acknowledgement systems and conventions
awkward, and proof-reading is not always easy for dyslexic students and some visually-
impaired students. Study skills education within programmes of study should minimise the
number of students submitting poorly referenced work. However, some students plagiarise
deliberately, with the intent to deceive. This intentional malpractice is a conscious, pre-
mediated form of cheating and is regarded as a particularly serious breach of the core values
of academic integrity.
Plagiarism can include the following:
1. collusion, where a piece of work prepared by a group is represented as if it were the
student’s own;
2. commission or use of work by the student which is not his/her own and representing it
as if it were, e.g.:

5
a. purchase of a paper from a commercial service, including internet sites,
whether pre-written or specially prepared for the student concerned
b. submission of a paper written by another person, either by a fellow student or
a person who is not a member of the university;
3. duplication (of one’s own work) of the same or almost identical work for more than
one module;
4. the act of copying or paraphrasing a paper from a source text, whether in manuscript,
printed or electronic form, without appropriate acknowledgement (this includes
quoting directly from another source with a reference but without quotation marks);
5. submission of another student’s work, whether with or without that student’s
knowledge or consent;
6. Directly quoting from model solutions/answers made available in previous years;
7. cheating in class tests, e.g.
a. when a candidate communicates, or attempts to communicate, with a fellow
candidate or individual who is neither an invigilator or member of staff
b. copies, or attempts to copy from a fellow candidate
c. attempts to introduce or consult during the examination any unauthorised printed
or written material, or electronic calculating, information storage device, mobile
phones or other communication device
d. Personates or allows him or her to be impersonated.
8. Fabrication of results occurs when a student claims to have carried out tests,
experiments or observations that have not taken place or presents results not supported
by the evidence with the object of obtaining an unfair advantage.
These definitions apply to work in whatever format it is presented, including written work,
online submissions, group work and oral presentations.

20. Attendance Policy

Every student must attend 80% of the lectures delivered in this course and 80% of the
practical/laboratory work prescribed for this course. The students falling short of required
percentage of attendance of lectures/practical/laboratory work, etc., shall not be allowed to
appear in the terminal examination of this course and shall be treated as having failed this
course.
In case of illness or other unavoidable cause of absence, the student must communicate as
soon as possible with the instructor, indicating the reason for the absence. Prolonged illness
of three or more consecutive days must have a medical certificate sent to the department.
Excessive absence may result in failure or immediate withdrawal from the course or
programme.
21 Makeup Test, Exams or Quizzes

There will be no makeup tests, exams or quizzes. If you miss a test, exam or quiz, you will
receive zero marks. Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances or for medical
reasons documented by “Student Medical Certificate”. In such a case, it is the responsibility
of the student to inform the course instructor immediately.

22. Field Trips/Case Studies/Seminars/Workshop

N/A
23. Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Outcomes
6
Bloom’s
Level Key Verbs (keywords) Example Learning Outcome

design, formulate, build, By the end of this lesson, the student

invent, create, compose, will be able to design an original
generate, derive, modify, homework problem dealing with the
Create develop. principle of conservation of energy.

By the end of this lesson, the

student will be able to determine
choose, support, relate, whether using conservation of
determine, defend, judge, energy or conservation of
grade, compare, contrast, momentum would be more
argue, justify, support, appropriate for solving a dynamics
Evaluate convince, select, evaluate. problem.

classify, break down,

categorize, analyze, By the end of this lesson, the student
diagram, illustrate, criticize, will be able to differentiate between
Analyze simplify, associate. potential and kinetic energy.

calculate, predict, apply,

solve, illustrate, use, By the end of this lesson, the student
demonstrate, determine, will be able to calculate the kinetic
Apply model, perform, present. energy of a projectile.

describe, explain,
paraphrase, restate, give By the end of this lesson, the student
original examples of, will be able to describe Newton’s
summarize, contrast, three laws of motion to in her/his
Understand interpret, discuss. own words

list, recite, outline, define, By the end of this lesson, the student
name, match, quote, recall, will be able to recite Newton’s three
Remember identify, label, recognize. laws of motion.