PH 332: SOLID STATE PHYSICS

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS 2023/2024

Crystal Structure
1. Briefly explain the following:
a) Bravais Lattice
b) Wigner-Seitz Cell
c) Basis
d) Crystal structure
e) Primitive Unit cell
f) Coordination Number
g) Primitive Lattice Vectors
h) Conventional Unit Cell
i) Face Centered Cubic (FCC) lattice
j) Body Centered Cubic (BCC) lattice
k) Packing fraction
l) Miller indices of a lattice plane

2 Briefly discuss the reasons that a periodic lattice with a five-fold symmetry axis cannot exist.
3 The vectors of the primitive fcc unit cell connect a lattice point at the origin with lattice
points at the center of the adjacent of cube faces:
(a) Write these vectors in standard Miller notation & calculate the angle between any
two of them
(b) Prove that the volume of the bcc primitive cell is one quarter of the volume of the
conventional cell.
4. Derive the reciprocal lattice vectors for both the conventional and the primitive unit cells
of the fcc lattice. Using these, show that the volume of the reciprocal cell of the primitive
lattice is four times that of the conventional lattice.
5. Calculate the length of the [211] vector where the Miller indices are referred to the fcc
Primitive reciprocal lattice. Use this result to obtain the separation of the (211) planes in
the primitive lattice.

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Crystal Binding
1. Define the Madelung Energy in ionic solids. Briefly discuss the reasons that calculating this
contribution to cohesive energies must be done carefully to avoid obtaining divergent results.
2. Derive the reciprocal lattice vectors for both the conventional and the primitive unit cells
of the fcc lattice. Using these, show that the volume of the reciprocal cell of the primitive
lattice is four times that of the conventional lattice.
3. Crystalline solids are often considered in terms of the 4 idealized bonding categories listed in
parts (i) to (iv). Yet, for each of these 4 kinds of bonding, it is the electrostatic Coulomb
interaction that provides the attractive force. For each of the types of idealized bonding listed
in parts a to d, and by considering only outer valence electrons of the atoms, Discuss how the
Coulomb force is operating in each case. That is, discuss the Physical Mechanisms which are
primarily responsible for the bonding energy each of these kinds of solids.
(i) Iron bonding
(ii) Metallic bonding
(iii) Covalent bonding
(iv) Van der Waals bonding

In addition to the attractive electrostatic Coulomb force responsible for the 4 kinds of bonding listed in
parts (i) to (iv), it is argued in Kittel’s Ch. 3 & it was discussed in class that a short ranged repulsive
force must also exist between the atoms in a solid. Briefly discuss the physical reasons that such a
repulsive force must exist and the physical origins of this force.

4. A quantitative model of bonding in ionic crystals was developed in the 1930’s by Born and
Meyer. In this model, the total potential energy of the system is assumed to have the form (in
SI units):
Utot(R) =

Here, N is the number of positive-negative ion pairs, R is the nearest neighbor distance in
the material, α is the Madelung constant for the material, A & n are adjustable empirical
parameters to be fit to experimental data and 0 is the permittivity of free space.
(i) The first term in Utot is a repulsive interaction. Briefly discuss it’s physical origin. The second
term in Utot is an attractive interaction. Briefly discuss its physical origin.
(ii) Sketch Utot potential as a function of R.
(iii) Calculate the equilibrium nearest-neighbor distance R0 in terms of N, A, α and 0.
The equilibrium bonding energy per ion pair in this model is simply Utot (R0). By
using the R0 you just obtained in the above equation for Utot find a simple
expression for the equilibrium bonding energy per ion pair. (Hint: This should be
independent of the parameter A.)
(iv) For the ionic salt NaCl, the constant α = 1.75, R0 = 5.63 Å and the measured bonding
energy per ion pair is 7.95 eV. Use these numbers to estimate the value of the
parameter n for NaCl. [Note: (1/4πε0) = 9.0  109 Nm2/C2, 1.0 eV = 1.6  10-19 J, 1.0 A =

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 1.0  10-10 m].

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Reciprocal Lattice and Wave Diffraction
1. Briefly define the following terms:
(i) Reciprocal Lattice
(ii) Atomic Form Factor
(iii) Structure factor
(iv) Brillouin Zone
(v) Laue Condition (Laue equations)
(vi) Bragg’s Law of Diffraction
(vii) Reciprocal Lattice Vector
(viii) Ewald Construction
2. Briefly discuss the physics underlying the Bragg’s law of diffraction.
3. Briefly explain the reasons that the Bragg law is equivalent to the Laue condition (Laue
Equations)
4. Derive the reciprocal lattice vectors for the conventional & the primitive unit cells of the
fcc lattice.
5. Calculate the length of the [211] vector, where the Miller indices are referred to the fcc
primitive reciprocal lattice. Use this result to obtain the separation of the (211) planes in the
primitive lattice.
6. Name the three most important kinds of probes used in diffraction experiments on crystals.
(Hint: See p. 24 of the 8th Edition of Kittel’s book!). Discuss the essential condition that the
wavelength of each probe must satisfy if it is to be useful in understanding crystal structure.
7. Consider a crystal with the simple cubic (SC) lattice structure. The primitive lattice
vectors are a1 = a i, a2 = a j, a3 = a k, where a is the lattice constant and i, j, k are the
usual unit vectors for a Cartesian coordinate system. Prove that the reciprocal lattice is
simple cubic also.
8. Find separation between closest parallel planes of the lattice which have Miller indexes
(1,1,0). Compare this separation with the length of the vector K = [1,1,0] in the
reciprocal lattice.
9. What is orientation of the vector K = [1,1,0] of the reciprocal lattice with respect to the
plane (1,1,0) in the direct lattice?
10. Write two relations between the orientation and length of a general vector [k,l,m] of the
reciprocal lattice and the orientation and the separation of the planes with the Miller
indexes (k,l,m) in the direct lattice.

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 Lattice Vibrations & Lattice Dynamics
1. Briefly explain the following terms:
(i) Lattice dynamics
(ii) Harmonic approximation
(iii) Normal modes
(iv) Phonon
(v) Elastic constants
(vi) Dispersion relations
(vii) Longitudinal modes (longitudinal polarization )
(viii) Transverse modes (transverse polarization )
(ix) Anharmonic approximation
2. Discuss the qualitative differences in the behavior (as a function of wave vector) of acoustic
and optic phonon modes.
3. What characteristics must the crystal structure of a solid have in order for optic modes to
exist? Is it possible for the phonon dispersion relations of a solid to contain acoustic modes
only? If so, what characteristics are required for the crystal structure?

4. Consider the model one-dimensional diatomic chain of 2N atoms, as discussed in Kittel’s

Ch. 4 and as thoroughly covered in class. There are N atoms of mass m & N atoms of mass
M. Every mass m has two near neighbors of mass M & every mass M has two near
neighbors of mass m. This is a model of a solid with two atoms per unit cell. The repeat
distance is a, so the atoms are equally spaced with separation (½)a. The force constant
coupling each atom to its nearest-neighbors is K. As discussed in class, the normal mode
vibrational frequencies have two branches ω (k) for each wavevector k. The solutions for
these have the form:

(i) Which branch is the solution for the acoustic modes and why? Which branch is the
solution for the optic modes and why?
(ii) Derive expressions for the group velocities vg as functions of k.
(iii) Using the results of part b, evaluate vg+ and vg- at very small values of k (k → 0).
Briefly. Discuss the physical significance of these low k group velocities.
(iv) Using the results of part b, evaluate vg+ and vg- for k at the Brillouin Zone boundary
[k = (π/a)], Briefly Discuss the physical significance of these Brillouin Zone
boundary group velocities. Specifically, what we say about propagation of
longitudinal waves in this lattice at frequencies ω (k = π/a)?

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 Superconductivity
1. Summarize the BCS theory of superconductivity.
2. Define the following terms:
(i) Meissner effect
(ii) London penetration depth
(iii) Critical temperature
(iv) Cooper pairs
(v) Superconductivity
3. Consider two superconducting wires, tin (Sn; Type I) and Nb3Sn (Type II), each 1 mm in
thickness. The magnetic field on the surface of a current-carrying conductor is given by
 I
B O
2r
(a) Assuming that Sn wire loses its superconductivity when the field at the surface
reaches the critical field (0.2 T), calculate the maximum current and hence the critical
current density that can be passed through the Sn wire near absolute zero of temperature.
(b) Calculate the maximum current and critical current density for the Nb3Sn wire using
the same assumption as in part (a) but taking the critical field to be the upper critical
field, Bc2, which is 24.5 at 0 K. How does your calculation of Jc compare with the
critical density of about 1011 A m-2 for Nb3Sn at 0 K?
4. The element niobium, which is a metal, is a superconductor (i.e., no electrical resistance) at
temperatures below 9 K. However, the superconductivity is destroyed if the magnetic held at
the surface of the metal reaches or exceeds 0.10 T. What is the maximum current in a
straight, 3.0 mm-diameter superconducting niobium wire?
5. Use the BCS theory to calculate the energy gap for indium whose critical temperature Tc =
3.4K.
6. For lead superconductivity ensues at 7.19 K, when there is a zero applied magnetic field.
When the magnetic field of 0.074 T is applied at temperature 2.0K superconductivity will
stop. Find the magnetic field that should be applied so that superconductivity will not occur
at any temperature?

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 Semiconductors
1. How do you expect the conductivity to vary in an intrinsic semiconductor with increasing
temperature? Explain your answer.
2. How do you expect the conductivity to vary in a metallic conductor with increasing
temperature?
3. The energy gap (Eg) of ZnSe is 2.3 eV.
(a) Is this material transparent to visible radiation? Substantiate your answer
(b) How could you increase the electrical conductivity of this material? Give the reasons
or the effectiveness of your suggested approach
4. Explain the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic semiconductors.
5. The number of electron-hole pairs in intrinsic germanium (Ge) is given by:
 Eg
3
ni  9.7  1015 T 2 e 2 k BT
(Eg = 0.72 eV)
cm 3
(a) What is the density of pairs at T = 20°C?
(b) Will undoped Ge be a good conductor at 200°C? If so, why?

6. Determine the amount (in grams) of boron (B) that, substitutionally incorporated into 1 kg of
germanium (Ge), will establish a charge carrier density of 3.091 x 1017/cm3
7. A Si p-n junction has dopant concentrations ND = 2 x 1015 cm3 and NA = 2 x 1016 cm3, built-
in potential Vbi=0.6709Ev. Calculate the total width of the depletion region W = xn0 + xp0 at
zero bias (that is, Va = 0) and under a reverse bias Va = -8V. Take the permittivity of the
medium as 80 x 10-12

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