UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

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B.Sc. FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018

PHYS 449: PHYSICS OF SOLIDS II (3 CREDITS)

ANSWER QUESTION 1 AND TWO OTHER QUESTIONS.

TIME ALLOWED: TWO AND A HALF (2 12 ) HOURS

1. (a) One of the successes of the Free and Independent Electron model for metals is
the derivation of conductivity. However the model does not explain why resistiv-
ity varies with temperature. Suggest a modification of the model to explain why
resistivity in metals is affected by temperature.

(5 marks)

(b) Explain three factors that account for the difference between the thermal effective
mass and rest mass of an electron in a crystal.

(5 marks)

(c) Show that the kinetic energy of a three-dimensional gas of N free electrons at 0 K
is

3
U0 = N  F
5

where F is the Fermi energy.

(5 marks)

(d) Thermal conductivity for quartz at 273.3 K is 0.13 W cm−1 K−1 . What is the mean
free path of quartz at this temperature given that it has a specific heat capacity of
2.0 J cm−3 K −1 . Take thermal velocity of electrons as 5 × 105 cm s−1 .

(5 marks)

PHYS 449 1 of 4 Examiner: Dr. S. A. Atarah

 (e) In the presence of an externally applied electric field, the effective electric field
experienced by a dielectric is composed of two parts.

i. Identify and explain the components of the experienced electric field giving
their origins.

ii. In a symmetric system which of the components is referred to as the depolar-

ization field and why?

(6 marks)

2. (a) Explain why x-rays are well suited for studying crystal structure rather than mi-
crowaves, radio waves or other radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum.

(2 marks)

(b) The crystal structure factor is given by

X
SG = f · e−iG·rj
i

where the letters carry their usual meanings. The FCC structure has identical atoms
located at (000), (0 12 12 ), ( 12 0 12 ) and ( 12 12 0).

i. Determine the general form of the structure factor SG (v1 v2 v3 ) for the FCC
crystal for reflection from the plane (v1 v2 v3 ) .

ii. Determine whether or not there would be a reflection from the following planes:
(121), (222).

(15 marks)

3. (a) An electron bound harmonically to an atom has resonance frequency ω0 . A local

electric field E = E0 eiωt is applied. Treating the system as a driven harmonic
oscillator in which the electron displaces from the atom by x = x0 eiωt , derive the
frequency dependence of the electronic polarizability of the atom.

(7 marks)

PHYS 449 2 of 4 Examiner: Dr. S. A. Atarah

 (b) For a system with electron concentration n and relaxation time τ, write down the
steady state value of conductivity σ(0) as a function of n, τ and electron mass, m.

2 marks)

For an appropriately aligned a.c. field use the equation of motion

 
d 1
m + v = −eE
dt τ

to show that for electron drift velocity v, the electrical conductivity depends on the fre-
quency of the electric field as

 
1 + iωτ
σ(ω) = σ(0)
1 + (ωτ )2

(8 marks)

In a monatomic linear lattice of atoms of mass M and spacing a, it can be shown that the energy
of a propagating wave is given by

 2
1 X dus 1 X
E= M + C (us − us+1 )2
2 s
dt 2 s

where C is the nearest neighbour interaction constant and s is an index.

By considering the displacement as

us = ucos(ωt − Ka)

and the dispersion relation

 1/2
4C 1
ω(K) = sin Ka
M 2

PHYS 449 3 of 4 Examiner: Dr. S. A. Atarah

show that the time averaged total energy per atom is

1 1
M ω 2 u2 + C(1 − cosKa)u2
4 2

(17 marks)

1. Total polarizability of a dielectric is composed of three parts.

(a) Name and explain each of them.

(b) State which of the components of polarizability vanishes at optical frequencies and
which survives such frequencies giving reasons for the frequency dependence.

(5 marks)

2. State the quantitative relation defining polarization P, of a dielectric of N atoms in terms

of polarizability α, of each atom when there is a local electric field Eloc (j) at each jth atom
site.

(2 marks)

3. The polarization of a dielectric when an electric field E persists, may also be defined in
terms of its relative permittivity, r and vacuum permittivity, 0 as

P = 0 (r − 1)E

Using the latter definition for polarization and that from b), derive the Clausius-Mossotti
equation:

(r − 1) 1 X
= N αi
(r + 2) 30 i

(10 marks)

PHYS 449 4 of 4 Examiner: Dr. S. A. Atarah