Roll No. ………………………..

Unique Paper Code : 32221502

Name of Paper : Solid State Physics

Name of Course : B.Sc. (Hons) Physics

Semester : V

Duration: 3 Hours Maximum Marks: 75

(Write your Roll No. on the top immediately on receipt of this question paper)
Question No.1 is compulsory. Answer any four of the remaining six, attempting any two parts
from each question. Non-programmable scientific calculator is allowed.

Q1: Attempt all parts of this question:

(a) Draw the lattice planes (2 1 0), (1 2 2) in a crystal with a cubic unit cell. (2)
(b) Mention two fundamental aspects in which diffraction (reflection) of x-rays by crystal is
different to reflection of visible wavelength from a shiny surface. (3)
(c) What is the fundamental reason why the quantum mechanical treatments of specific heat
due to Einstein and Debye yield expressions in which the specific heat vanishes as T goes
to 0. (3)
(d) Show that for free electrons, the effective mass is equal to the free electron mass. (2)
(e) Explain two achievements of the Weiss theory of ferromagnetism. (3)
(f) Why does the absorption due to ionic polarization occur at much lower frequencies than
that due to electronic polarization? (3)
(g) Explain why superconductors are poor conductors of heat for T ≪ 𝑇𝑐 . (3)

Q2:
(a) What do you understand by reciprocal lattice space? How the concept of reciprocal
lattice is important in crystal structure determination? Provide the set of relations which
connects physical lattice parameter with the reciprocal lattice. (2,2,3)

(b) Consider the following pattern:

q p d b q p d b q p d b ………

d b q p d b q p d b q p ………

q p d b q p d b q p d b ………

. . . . . .
. . . . . .
 Indicate:
(i) a rectangular unit cell,
(ii) a primitive unit cell, and
(iii) the basis of letters associated with each lattice points. (3,2,2)

(c) A crystal has a basis of one atom per lattice point and a set of primitive translation
vectors (in Å):
a = 3i, b = 3j, c = 1.5(i + j + k)
where i, j and k are unit vectors in the x, y and z directions of a Cartesian coordinate
system. What is the Bravais lattice type of this crystal? Calculate the volumes of the
primitive unit cell and the conventional unit cell. (4,3)

Q3:
(a) Obtain the expressions for heat capacity due to longitudinal vibrations of a chain of
identical atoms in the Debye approximation. (7)

(b) Estimate the Debye temperature of gold if its atomic weight is 197, the density is 1.9 x
104 kg/m3 and the velocity of sound in it is 2100 m/s. (Given; h = 6.63 x 10-34 Js, KB =
1.3807 x 10-23 JK-1, NA = 6.022 x 1023 mol-1). (7)

(c) What are phonons? Draw the dispersion curve for a linear chain of diatomic lattice
exhibiting longitudinal oscillations. Explain qualitatively the relative motion of the
neighboring atoms contributing to the acoustic and optical branches. (2,3,2)

Q4:
(a) Discuss how realistic is the potential used in Kronig-Penney model to explain the band
structure of crystalline materials. Explain four major achievements of this model.
(3,4)
(b) Shed some light on the concept of an effective mass? Explain why electron effective
mass is smaller than hole effective mass? (4,3)

(c) An electric field off 100 V/m is applied to a sample of n-type semiconductor whose Hall
coefficient is – 0.0125 m3. Determine the current density in the sample, assuming the
electron mobility to be 0.36 m2V-1s-1. (7)

Q5:
(a) Discuss B-H curve of a ferromagnetic material using the concept of domains. How do
you characterize materials as soft and hard from the B-H curve? (5,2)
 (b) Consider a helium atom in ground state. The mean radius in the Langevin formula may
be approximated by Bohr radius 0.529 Å. The density of helium is 0.178 Kg/m3.
Calculate the diamagnetic susceptibility of a helium atom. (7)

(c) What are the various contributions to the magnetic dipole moment of an atom? Explain
with the help of diagram the difference between ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic
materials. (3,4)

Q6:
(a) Define briefly the various sources of polarizability. Explain qualitatively the variation of
total polarizability as a function of frequency. (4,3)

(b) Calculate the induced dipole moment per unit volume (polarization density) of helium
gas when it is placed in a field of 6 x 105 V/m. The atomic polarizability and density of
helium is 0.18 x 10-40 F-m2 and 1028 /m3. (5,2)

(c) In Lorentz’s procedure for determining the local field acting on a dielectric, a spherical
cavity is used even though there is no real cavity. What is its purpose? How big should it
be imagined to be for Lorentz’s procedure to work?

Q7:
(a) How do you differentiate between a perfect metal and a superconductor? Explain with the
help of suitable experiment. (7)

(b) What do you understand by piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and ferroelectric materials? Give
one application of piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials. (6,1)

(c) The superconductor tin has a critical temperature of 3.7 °K in zero magnetic field and a
critical field at 0 °K of 306 Oe (30.6 mT). Obtain an approximate value for the maximum
supercurrent that can be carried by a tin wire of 0.1 cm diameter at 2 °K. What would be
the diameter of wire needed to carry a current of 100 A without the tin becoming normal?
(4,3)
Values of Constants
kB = 1.3807 x 10-23 JK-1
NA = 6.022 x 1023 mol-1,
h = 6.63 x 10-34 Js
μo = 4 π x 10-7 Hm-1
μB = 9.2732 x 10-24 Am2
εo = 8.854 x 10-12 Fm-1
me = 9.1 x 10-31 Kg
e = 1.6 x 10-19 C