Reading
Kittel chapter 9: Energy bands or R. Gross und A. Marx: Energiebänder
For the exam you should:
- be able to draw the approximate E vs. k dispersion relation for an electron moving in a one-dimensional potential.
- know the Bloch theorem.
- know the empty lattice approximation. Given the first Brillouin zone of a crystal, you should be able to draw the dispersion relation in a few high symmetry directions using the empty lattice approximation.
- know that there are N allowed k-vectors in the first Brillouin zone where N is the number of unit cells in the crystal. There two electron states in every band for k-vector.
- be able to explain the plane wave method and the tight binding model for calculating bandstructure.
- know how to construct the electron density of states from a dispersion relation.
- be able to explain what the difference is between a metal, a semiconductor, and an insulator.
Resources
Periodic table of electronic bandstructures
NSM semiconductor database
Paul Falstad's 1-D Crystal Applet