PhD in Chemical and Materials Sciences

SOLID STATE PHYSICS/B

SOLID STATE PHYSICS/B

Academic year 2014/2015

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Learning assessment methods
• Program
• Suggested textbooks and readings
• Notes
• Teaching tools

Course objectives

After having completed the course, the student will have skills in:

- Describing the fundamental properties of various classes of superconducting materials and their respective fields of application.

- Describing the operation principles of a Josephson junction and its possible applications.

- Evaluating and solving experimental issues in the electrical characterization of devices at low-temperature.

After having completed the course, the student will have:

- Theoretical knowledge in modeling superconducting materials

- Theoretical knowledge in modeling electronic devices based on superconducting materials.

- Experimental knowledge in the characterization of the above-mentioned materials and devices.

Results of learning outcomes

- Basic knowledge of the properties of superconducting materials.

- Basic knowledge of the working principles of the devices presented in the course.

- Basic skills in measuring, organizing, analyzing, presenting and discussing experimental data.

Learning assessment methods

The exam will consist in a presentation and  a discussion about a research paper concerning one of the topics of the course.

Orale

Program

- Phenomenology of superconductivity:

• Experimental variables, themodynamics of the superconducting transition, type I and type II superconductivity.

• Structure and dynamics of vortexes, pinning.

• London equations.

- Microscopic origin of superconductivity: the phonon-mediated attractive interaction.

- Macroscopic quantum model and magnetic flux quantization.

- Josephson effect:

• Governing equations and its different versions.

• RCSJ model and its mechanical analogue.

• Operation principle of the SQUID.

- Different kinds of superconducting materials:

• Low, medium and high-Tc.

• Orders of magnitude of their basic quantities.

• Synthesis techniques and applications.

- Thermodynamics of normal and superconducting materials.

- Ginzburg-Landau theory for the superconducting transition:

• The coherence length.

• Origin of the difference between type I and type II supercondutors.

- Practical classes:

• Measurement of the I-V characteristics of a YBCO or BSCCO superconductor.

• Measurement of the mean free path and of the ionic radius of a normal metal.

• Terry P. Orlando, Kevin A. Delin : “Foundations of Applied Superconductivity”, Addison Wesley, Reading, Massachussets, 1991

• Charles P. Poole, Horacio A. Farach, Richard J. Creswick: Superconductivity, Academic Press, San Diego – London, 1995

• Lecture notes and slides provided by the teacher.

Class schedule

Note

The course is organized as follows:

• 5 ECTS points of frontal lectures ( 5*8 = 40 hours; elective attendance)

• 1 ECTS point of laboratory practicals (12 hours, mandatory attendance for at least 70% of the time)

The "Physics of Superconductors" course activated at the Physics Master Degree is mutuated from this course.

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