Semiconductor Optics and Transport Phenomena

Whenever a physicist visits the physics faculty in Dortmund, he/she is bound to hear the success story of the so-called integrated course, a four-semester introduction to physics. These lectures are given by two professors simulta neously, one experimentalist and one theorist. After having asked the common question, "How many professors have killed each other?", the visitor usually realizes that this is an excellent way of presenting a coherent introductiorl to both experimental and theoretical physics. We decided to try this concept in an advanced course on semiconductor physics. At that point the typical student has already had an introductory course in solid-state physics and solid-state theory. The aim of the lectures was to repeat some of the most important, well-known classics of semiconductor optics and transport and eventually guide the students to topics of current interest in research. When preparing the lectures, we did not find a textbook addressing all these aspects: experiment and theory in semiconductor optics and transport- which made us write this book. This book presents the phenomenology and a simple, in tuitive understanding of many effects and, in addition, attempts to explain the underlying physics on a consistent theoretical footing. Calculations are presented such that a student should be able to follow them with a pencil and a piece of paper.

List of contents

1. Some Basic Facts on Semiconductors.- 2. Interaction of Matter and Electromagnetic Fields.- 3. One-Particle Properties.- 4. Uncorrelated Optical Transitions.- 5. Correlated Transitions of Bloch Electrons.- 6. Correlated Transitions near the Band Edge.- 7. Influence of Static Magnetic Fields.- 8. Influence of Static Electric Fields.- 9. Biexcitons.- 10. Nonequilibrium Green's Functions.- 11. The Electron-Phonon Interaction.- 12. Scattering and Screening Processes.- 13. The Semiconductor Laser.- 14. Classical Transport.- 15. Electric Fields in Mesoscopic Systems.- 16. Electric and Magnetic Fields in Mesoscopic Systems.- References.

Summary

Whenever a physicist visits the physics faculty in Dortmund, he/she is bound to hear the success story of the so-called integrated course, a four-semester introduction to physics. These lectures are given by two professors simulta neously, one experimentalist and one theorist. After having asked the common question, "How many professors have killed each other?", the visitor usually realizes that this is an excellent way of presenting a coherent introductiorl to both experimental and theoretical physics. We decided to try this concept in an advanced course on semiconductor physics. At that point the typical student has already had an introductory course in solid-state physics and solid-state theory. The aim of the lectures was to repeat some of the most important, well-known classics of semiconductor optics and transport and eventually guide the students to topics of current interest in research. When preparing the lectures, we did not find a textbook addressing all these aspects: experiment and theory in semiconductor optics and transport- which made us write this book. This book presents the phenomenology and a simple, in tuitive understanding of many effects and, in addition, attempts to explain the underlying physics on a consistent theoretical footing. Calculations are presented such that a student should be able to follow them with a pencil and a piece of paper.

Additional text

From the reviews:
"The rapid pace of discovery in semiconductor physics makes it difficult to initiate neophytes to the field . . . With Semiconductor Optics and Transport Phenomena, Wilfried Schäfer and Martin Wegener have come to the rescue . . . The authors are important figures in semiconductor optics. Schäfer has made definitive contributions to the theory of interacting electrons and collaborated with experimentalists to explain exciton dynamics under ultrafast optical excitation. Wegener is prominently known for his experimental exploration of the new world of exciton dynamics in the first few femtoseconds of their creation. The collaboration of a theorist and an experimentalist in this book fulfills the authors’ intent to synthesize theory and empiricism. It is delightful to find that, after reading about the Bloch theory, one can understand the four-wave mixing experiment and measurements of the dephasing time . . . The text covers basic electron properties, optics, and transport. The optics part provides important paradigms of decoherence and of nonequilibrium physics, both of which are essential to the modern physics of the small . . . I recommend Schäfer and Wegener’s timely and pioneering text for a cohesive presentation of modern semiconductor physics."
PHYSICS TODAY
"The text covers basic electron properties, optics, and transport. … The book also carefully describes such fundamentals as the gauge relation between the p . A and r . E expressions for light-matter interaction. … I recommend Schäfer and Wegener’s timely and pioneering text for a cohesive presentation of modern semiconductor physics." (L. J. Sham, Physics Today, July, 2003)
"The topics covered in the book include a good number of the important theoretical foundations of semiconductor optics and transport phenomena … . If the reader is interested in the theory of optical and transport phenomena, this is an appropriate book." (Mike Gal, ThePhysicist, Vol. 39 (6), 2002)

Report

From the reviews:
"The rapid pace of discovery in semiconductor physics makes it difficult to initiate neophytes to the field . . . With Semiconductor Optics and Transport Phenomena, Wilfried Schäfer and Martin Wegener have come to the rescue . . . The authors are important figures in semiconductor optics. Schäfer has made definitive contributions to the theory of interacting electrons and collaborated with experimentalists to explain exciton dynamics under ultrafast optical excitation. Wegener is prominently known for his experimental exploration of the new world of exciton dynamics in the first few femtoseconds of their creation. The collaboration of a theorist and an experimentalist in this book fulfills the authors' intent to synthesize theory and empiricism. It is delightful to find that, after reading about the Bloch theory, one can understand the four-wave mixing experiment and measurements of the dephasing time . . . The text covers basic electron properties, optics, and transport. The optics part provides important paradigms of decoherence and of nonequilibrium physics, both of which are essential to the modern physics of the small . . . I recommend Schäfer and Wegener's timely and pioneering text for a cohesive presentation of modern semiconductor physics."
PHYSICS TODAY
"The text covers basic electron properties, optics, and transport. ... The book also carefully describes such fundamentals as the gauge relation between the p . A and r . E expressions for light-matter interaction. ... I recommend Schäfer and Wegener's timely and pioneering text for a cohesive presentation of modern semiconductor physics." (L. J. Sham, Physics Today, July, 2003)
"The topics covered in the book include a good number of the important theoretical foundations of semiconductor optics and transport phenomena ... . If the reader is interested in the theory of optical and transport phenomena, this is an appropriate book." (Mike Gal, ThePhysicist, Vol. 39 (6), 2002)

Product details

• Authors: Wilfrie Schäfer, Wilfried Schäfer, Martin Wegener
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.03.2002
• EAN: 9783540616146
• ISBN: 978-3-540-61614-6
• No. of pages: 497
• Weight: 880 g
• Illustrations: XI, 495 p.
• Series: Advanced Texts in Physics; Physics and Astronomy Online Library; Advanced Texts in Physics; Physics and Astronomy Online Library
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Electricity, magnetism, optics; Laser, B, Optics, Lasers, Quantum Optics, Thermodynamics, Optical and Electronic Materials, Quantum physics (quantum mechanics & quantum field theory), Physics and Astronomy, Classical Electrodynamics, Optical physics, Electricity, electromagnetism & magnetism, Electrodynamics, Thermodynamics & heat, Electronic materials, Electronic devices & materials, Optical Materials, Photonics, Applied optics, Optics, Lasers, Photonics, Optical Devices