Electronic Properties of Advanced Materials

The course aims to introduce students to the electronic properties of advanced materials, emphasizing the deep interconnection between structure, thermodynamics, defect chemistry, and the electronic and magnetic properties of solids of scientific and technological interest. To this end, fundamental concepts of solid-state matter, its properties, and the experimental techniques used to investigate them will be presented.

Students will develop a strong understanding of symmetry in solids and the structure of major families of inorganic materials. They will gain insight into the thermodynamics of point and extended defects, as well as the electronic and magnetic properties of solids, with particular emphasis on topological materials and phenomena such as electronic localization, superconductivity, and collective magnetic, electric, and elastic ordering.