Materials Science

This course is designed for Bachelor Students in the 6^th semester following the Applied and Engineering Physics (AEP) program at TUM. We will study the physics and properties of modern materials with an emphasis on their mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical, optical and magnetic properties.  More information can be found at this link on the Walter Schottky Institut homepage, where downloads will also be successively made available

After successfully completing the course students will be in a position to understand why controlling the micro- and nano-structure of materials like insulators, semiconductors, non-magnetic and magnetic metals can lead to fundamentally new physical, thermal, electronic and optical properties. Moreover, students will learn how a range of modern materials structuring and processing technologies such as thin film growth, electron and optical lithography, etching, nano-manipulation and self-assembly routinely allow the construction of complex systems where novel physical and quantum effects can be exploited to build devices with entirely new functionalities. 

Solid-state physics Intro is a prerequisite for this course

The lecture will be held in a compact form in the first half of the summer semester.  Content of the lecture will be extended via tutorials in which worked examples will be presented and students will have the chance to discuss with their tutor.

The lecture will be presented as a frontal lecture using mostly PPT and OneNote.  A script will be provided to accompany the course.  

see script

There will be an oral exam of 40 minutes duration. Therein the achievement of the competencies given in section learning outcome is tested exemplarily at least to the given cognition level using comprehension questions and sample calculations.

For example an assignment in the exam might be:

• Explain the difference between insulators, semiconductors and metals in terms of electronic band structure and their typical measurable properties?
• Explain the basic concepts of heteroepitaxy and discuss the methods used for epitaxial growth of ultra-pure semiconductors?
• What are the different epitaxial growth modes that occur during heteroepitaxy and which energies drive growth ?
• Sketch the band structure of GaAs and describe and explain the modifications caused by substitutionally replacing Ga-atoms with Al-atoms.
• Explain how thin film heteroepitaxy can be used to realise quantum confined structures and explain the impact of motional quantisation on electronic properties.
• Describe the methods used to pattern materials via top-down nano processing
• Explain the different contributions to the effective potential experienced by free carriers in semiconductor heterostructures
• Describe the concepts that lead to the Drude model of conduction and explain how thin film material processing can be used to enhance carrier mobility.
• Explain the difference between the classical Hall effect and integer quantum Hall effects.
• Discuss different methods used to realise quantum-dot nano materials ?
• How would you prove that a nano structured materials has zero-dimensional electronic structure ?
• Describe a method that can be used to probe magnetic ordering in materials ?
• What is a spin wave and how can one go about experimentally measuring them ?

Participation in the exercise classes is strongly recommended since the exercises prepare for the problems of the exam and rehearse the specific competencies.