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Course catalogue

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Academic Programme

Implemented from September 2025

Introduction to solid state (6 ECTS)

Content

Auditorium lectures :

  1. Definitions of solid state and crystals.
  2. Classification of crystals – cohesion forces.
  3. Properties of crystals – anisotropy, phonons, band structure, conductivity.
  4. Point and space symmetry.
  5. Defects and surfaces.
  6. Diffraction: x-rays and neutrons at ambient and extreme conditions.
  7. TEM, SEM, AFM, STM.
  8. Inelastic scattering.
  9. Databases and data mining.
  10. Examples of applications: geophysics, electronics, sensors, energy harvesting.

Laboratory exercises:

  1. Crystals as the main representatives of solids.
  2. Symmetry as the main concept describing the crystal structure.
  3. From morphology to the structure.
  4. Space symmetry.
  5. X-Ray diffraction – reciprocal space.
  6. Database search and understanding crystallographic information.

Journal club : 5 meetings with student seminars presenting assignments from current literature with discussion.

Aims

The course will teach the students:

  1. how to define the solid state and to connect its 3D structure with properties.
  2. how the knowledge about 3D structures in databases facilitates the understanding of structure-property relations;
  3. how this knowledge is applied in the development of modern materials;
  4. how to practically investigate the symmetry, structure and properties of solids in a modern diffraction and spectroscopy labs.
Recommended Books
  1. Gale Rhodes, Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, 3rd edition, Academic Press, Amsterdam 2006.
  2. Harry R. Allcock, Introduction to materials chemistry, Wiley, New Jersey 2008.
  3. Gregory S. Rohrer, Structure and Bonding in Crystalline Materials, Cambridge University Press 2001.
  4. Max Born & Huang Kun, Dynamical Theory of Crystal Lattices, Oxford Science Publications, 1988.
 Teaching Staff

Prof. Andrzej Katrusiak
Dr. Ewa Patyk-Kaźmierczak

Hours

Lectures: 30h
Tutorials: 45h