ABOUT THE COURSE: This course provides a generalized framework to understanding various material properties (concentrating on electronic, electromechanical and optical properties). First, we discuss how material symmetry dictates the existence of properties, by understanding in depth what symmetry is, and how properties as tensors correlate to symmetry.Next, we look at equilibrium properties, their origin from the purview of thermodynamics and a bit of statistical mechanics. Then we look at dissipative properties as analogues of friction coefficient, through Onsagers formulation.We then look at properties as response functions and understand the relationship between equilibrium and dissipative properties (dielectric constant and conductivity for e.g.). We end by understanding how to measure these properties through various absorption and scattering spectroscopic tools starting from neV processes (transport measurements) to 10s of keV processes (x-ray based techniques).By the end of the course, the student will learn and appreciate the necessary ingredients required to start the design of materials for desired functions.INTENDED AUDIENCE: Physicists, Materials Scientists, Device Engineers, Mechanical engineers interested towards semiconducting and MEMS devicesPREREQUISITES: NOC 24- MM24 will be useful, not mandatoryBasic ideas of Miller Indices, Crystal systems etc will be useful, not mandatoryINDUSTRY SUPPORT: AMAT, LAM Research, Intel, Micron and all the semiconducting companies

Syllabus

Week 1: Structure and symmetry: Properties as relations between cause and effect. Properties as tensors, elementary tensor algebra, matter tensors, field tensors
Week 2:Structure and symmetry: crystal systems, Bravais lattices, point groups, space groups
Week 3:Structure and symmetry - property correlations: Neumann principle, case studies of pyroelectric properties (first rank tensor); dielectric constant, thermal/electrical conductivity (ohms law, hall effect: second rank tensors), piezoelectricity and second harmonic generation (third rank tensors), compliance/stiffness and electrostriction (4th rank tensors)
Week 4:Structure and symmetry: Experimental measurement of various standard properties
Week 5:Equilibrium property predictions from thermodynamics: Equilibrium properties as double derivatives (or curvatures) of free energies, Cross-coupling (Stress/Strain, Polarization/Field, Temperature/Entropy). Revisit piezoelectricity/converse piezo, pyroelectricity/electrocaloric effects, thermal expansion/piezocaloric effects etc..
Week 6:Equilibrium property predictions from thermodynamics: Phase transitions (first order, second order), order parameter, elementary stat-mech, equilibrium properties as fluctuation of order parameter, Landau theory
Week 7:Equilibrium property predictions from thermodynamics: Atomistic origin of selected equilibrium properties: piezoelectricity, electrostriction (anaharmonicity), thermal expansion (anaharmonicity); heat capacity (Debye model)
Week 8:Dissipative properties as entropy generating, Onsager’s formulation, electrical and thermal transport, diffusivity, electrical/thermal resistance, coupled dissipative properties: thermoelectric properties, electromigration
Week 9:Atomistic origin of electronic conductivity: Drude model, frequency dependence of conductivity, plasma frequency, conductivity (dissipative) and dielectric constant (equilibrium property) being a part of a complex dielectric function
Week 10:Relation between equilibrium (fluctuation) properties and dissipative properties from Kramer-Kronig relations
Week 11:Experimental understanding of various loss processes: dissipation, energy loss and other spectroscopic tools
Week 12:Spectroscopy: impedence (nano eV energy losses), microwave spectroscopy, Brilluoin, Raman (micro-m eV), optical (FTIR, UV Vis, Photoluminiscence, UPS: 0.1-10 eV), x-ray absorption and XPS (>100 eV)