Handbook

This core course is designed for Level 2 students in Materials Science and Engineering. The course introduces students to various important physical phenomena including electrical and magnetic properties of materials, and to show how such properties influence the design and operation of engineering components and devices used in electric cars, computers, televisions, mobile telephones etc. The first part of the course focuses on the modern atomic theory: including an introduction to wave mechanics; many-electron atoms and the Pauli exclusion principle; and band theories. Students will learn how to use electron theory to quantify the electrical conductivities of metals, semiconductors and insulators, and how to apply this knowledge to predict electrical conductivity of new materials. The second part focuses on understanding other physical properties including thermal (heat capacity, thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and thermoelectricity), magnetism (diamagnetism, paramagnetism, antiferromagnetism, ferrimagnetism and ferromagnetism; magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction; magnetic materials and devices), superconductivity and superconducting materials, and optical properties.