| Unit name | Condensed Matter 410 - Magnetism and Superconductivity |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHYSM1000 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2D (weeks 19 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Dave Newbold |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites | |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Physics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Electrons in bands: electronic bandstructure. Tight binding approximation. Screening and the Mott transition. Scattering of electrons in bands. Quantum oscillations and the measurement of Fermi surfaces. Magnetism: different types of magnetic behaviour. Diamagnetism. Paramagnetism. The exchange interaction. The band model of ferromagnetism. Antiferromagnetism. Spin waves. Superconductivity: introduction: discovery and occurrence. Zero resistance, critical temperatures and fields, Type I and II behaviour. The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect. Evidence of energy gap; heat capacity, microwave and infra-red properties, tunnelling. Thermodynamics. Electrodynamics; the London equation, flux quantization, macroscopic wavefunction, penetration depth and coherence length. The origin of the attractive interaction, electron-phonon interaction, isotope effect. Microscopic theory, Cooper pairs, BCS theory. Josephson effect. High temperature superconductors.
