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9696 results in Engineering: general interest

Page 28 of 485

A Student's Guide to Atomic Physics
  • Mark Fox
  • Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    14 June 2018
  • This concise and accessible book provides a detailed introduction to the fundamental principles of atomic physics at an undergraduate level. Concepts are explained in an intuitive way and the book assumes only a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and electromagnetism. With a compact format specifically designed for students, the first part of the book covers the key principles of the subject, including the quantum theory of the hydrogen atom, radiative transitions, the shell model of multi-electron atoms, spin-orbit coupling, and the effects of external fields. The second part provides an introduction to the four key applications of atomic physics: lasers, cold atoms, solid-state spectroscopy and astrophysics. This highly pedagogical text includes worked examples and end of chapter problems to allow students to test their knowledge, as well as numerous diagrams of key concepts, making it perfect for undergraduate students looking for a succinct primer on the concepts and applications of atomic physics.

  • 11 - Atomic Physics Applied to the Solid State

  • from Part II - Applications of Atomic Physics
  • Mark Fox, University of Sheffield
  • Book:
    A Student's Guide to Atomic Physics
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    14 June 2018, pp 202-225

  • Summary

    Solids are made up of atoms bound together in crystals, and the understanding of their quantized states is a subject in its own right, namely solid-state physics. In this chapter, we briefly look to see how the general principles developed in atomic physics can be applied to solid-state systems. This will enable us to obtain a basic understanding of light emission in solids. The focus of the chapter will be restricted to two main examples of optically active solid-state materials:

  • (i) Semiconductors: Semiconductors lie at the heart of modern technology. The silicon chip underpins the electronics industry, while the optoelectronics industry exploits the optical properties of compound semiconductors such as GaAs. Our task here will be to apply simple principles of atomic physics to understand the electronic states of impurities in semiconductors, and the mechanisms of light emission and detection.

  • (ii) Ions doped into optical hosts: Here we consider materials such as ruby, where chromium is lightly doped into Al2O3, with the Cr3+ ions substituting for the Al3+ ions in the crystal. Pure Al2O3 is a colorless, transparent crystal, and the characteristic red color of ruby arises from transitions associated with the Cr3+ ions. Our task will be to understand how the transitions of the Cr3+ ions in the crystal relate to the atomic states of Cr3+ ions in isolation.

    • In both cases, it will not be possible to give a comprehensive treatment; the aim of the chapter is to explain a few basic principles that can lay the foundations for further study. This author has written another book in which these topics are explained in much greater depth. See Fox (2010).

    Solid-State Spectroscopy

    Chapter 3 developed the basic principles governing optical transitions in atoms. In this section, we shall see how these principles carry over to solid-state systems.

    Selection Rules

    The electric-dipole (E1) interaction is the strongest term in the light-matter Hamiltonian, as discussed in Section 3.3. The selection rules that follow from analysis of the E1 perturbation and the wave functions of atomic states were derived in Section 3.4, and are summarized in Table 3.1. These selection rules carry over directly to optical transitions in solid-state systems.

Page 28 of 485