Customer Reviews

Electronic Properties of Materials

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent text for every electrical engineering student whether graduate or undergraduate. I found the information to be clear and concise which made the concepts easily manageable. The use of mathematical formulas are placed in such a way as to aid with the reading rather than to be overbearing as other solid-state physics texts can be. The author does a great job in sectioning the book into parts, thereby making it easier to focus on a particular area of interest without having to hunt for the deisred information. For practicing engineers, this is a good reference book, especially if you are looking to gain a further understanding of device physics.

The author should be commended for writing a textbook that focuses on the concepts instead of mathematical formulas, making the subject easy to comprehend. At the same time, the formulas are there for more indepth understanding. Overall, a good textbook for an undergraduate student of materials science.

I have read many textbooks as an Engineering student. This is the best.
Very helpful Appendices that I have even referred to in other classes. Well organized chapters. Thorough and easy (relatively speaking) explanations.
My only complaint is chapter in-balance; Some chapters are only a few pages while others seem to last forever.

I am taking Solid State Physics and my professor recommended this book along with 9 others separate from the text required for class. The text required for class can take a hike, but this book remained strong out of the 10 I checked out from the Library. I have the older version with a red cover but I have to say its pretty darn clear especially for such an abstract subject that even my professor has trouble explaining. Sometimes you find a gem. I wouldn't say it digs deep into any one thing but it does give an overview. I would seriously consider buying this book purely for reference durning my EE degree.

It is amazing to me that after four editions, this book is still full of amazingly serious technical errors. The book reflects an extremely poor understanding of physics and quantum mechanics. The equation p=mc, for example (p. 8), uses a classical (NOT relativistic) momentum formula for a particle traveling at the speed of light and then implies that an electron can do this in the utterly nonsensical "derivation" of the de Broglie relationship (even given as Problem 2.7!!!). The book falsely implies the high-school level concept that all waves have a linear dispersion relationship (e.g., Eq. 2.4) when many including electron waves do not, gives a solution to the Schrodinger equation (Eq. 2.7) that is obviously NOT a mathematical solution of this equation (such solutions HAVE to contain the imaginary number "i" as that number appears in the equation itself), has an abnormal sign throughout the book in the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, incorrectly states the direction of propagation of waves (Eq. 4.5), gives a completely incorrect form of an evanescent wave inside a barrier (equation below 4.39 and Fig. 4.7) that falsely implies that such a wave oscillates in space when in fact it decays monotonically, incorrectly states that psi*psi(conjugate) can not be greater than one (p. 26) when only the integral of that quantity over all x cannot be greater than one, states that GaAs is doped by excess Ga or As on p. 119 (known to be untrue since the 1970's!), makes a completely false statement that energy levels are "narrow" in quantum wells (p. 278) when the energy including in-plane motion is actually a continuum in this case starting at the lowest quantized level, and on and on and on. Anyone relying on this book to "teach" them the subject is likely to end up with an extremely shallow knowledge riddled with serious misconceptions. If you do use it, be sure to check everything it says against a more reliable source! Be especially careful of numerous mathematical errors related to differential equations. I have taught this subject for over 20 years and would shudder at the thought of giving this book to students. It does cover a very wide variety of topics at a qualitative level, but be extremely careful about its accuracy!

The book has a very simplified description for Electronic Properties of Materials. It does not go too much in depth in derivations etc. But at the same time it is good enough to give an overall flavor for electronic,optical, magnetic properties of materrials. This book is good for engineers. But for more depth understanding of quantum mechanics you might want to refer to other books.

Came super fast in the mail. Clean and good quality. Exactly what I expected. Thank you!