List of symbols and abbreviations

Lecture Physics of materials, H. S. Leipner

2001-09, last revision 2008-09

a Slip B0 External magnetic field

a Fundamental lattice translation b̂1 , b̂2 Burgers vector

vector
Bc Magnetic coercive field strength
A Area
Bc0 Critical magnetic field at T = 0 K
A Constant
Bc1, Bc2 Critical magnetic field strength
A Prefactor
bcc Body-centered cubic
a0 Primitive lattice vector
Bcrit Critical magnetic field
a∗ Reciprocal lattice vector
BCS Bardeen–Cooper–Schriefer
a0 (First) Bohr radius
Bint Magnitude of the internal mag-
A0 Cross section
netic field
a1 , a2 , a3 Basal lattice translation in the
BZ Brillouin zone
hexagonal lattice
c Speed of light
aE Acceleration in the electric field

b Distance c Fundamental lattice translation

vector
b Fundamental lattice translation
vector C Constant

b̂ Burgers vector C Capacitance

B Constant C Stiffness tensor

B vector of the magnetic induction c0 Primitive lattice vector

b0 Primitive lattice vector c∗ Reciprocal lattice vector

b∗ Reciprocal lattice vector c0 Starting concentration

1
C1 ,C2 Constant E0 Minimum energy

CCD Charge-coupled device E1 Energy of state 1

ce heat capacity due to electrons E2 Energy of state 2

c` Concentration in the liquid Ea Activation energy

Ci jkl Component of the stiffness tensor, EA Binding energy of acceptor hole

i, j, k, l = x, y, z
Eb Binding energy
cp Heat capacity at constant pressure
Eb Breakdown field strength
cph Heat capacity due to phonons
Ec Energy of the conduction band
cs Concentration in the solid edge

cV Heat capacity at constant volume Ec Coercive field strength

d Distance ED Binding energy of donor electron

d˜ Piezoelectric coefficient EF Fermi energy

D Density of states EFA , EFB Fermi energy of metal A, B

D0 Prefactor in the diffusion constant Eg Band gap

dc Thickness EH Hall field

De Diffusion length of electrons Ei Ionization energy

di Displacement of ions Ekin Kinetic energy

E Local electric field

DX Diffusion constant of the atomic loc
species X Epn Energy of photon number n (n =
1, 2, 3, . . .)
dhkl Spacing of the lattice planes (hkl)
Eph Phonon energy
ds Slit width
Epot Potential energy
DOS Density of states
Ev Energy of the valence band edge
e Elementary charge
f Atom scattering factor
E Energy
F Degree of freedom
E Electrical field vector
F Force
Eˆ Amplitude of the electrical field
vector F̃ Structure amplitude

Ẽ Young’s modulus FA Foreign atom

2
Fattract Attractive force {hkl} Miller indices of a set of crystallo-
graphically identical planes
FC Coulomb force
hmax Maximum height
F⊥ Magnitude of the normal force
hcp Hexagonal closed packed
Fk Magnitude of the tangential force
HOMO Highest occupied molecular or-
fCu Atom scattering factor of copper bital
FET Field effect transistor i Counting index
fZn Atom scattering factor of zinc I Current

fj Atom scattering factor of atom j Ie Intensity

→
−
fcc Face-centered cubic i Unit vector in x-direction

FH Hall force I0 Current at time t = 0

FL Lorentz force I˜0 Primary intensity

Fr Radial force I˜a Absorbed intensity

Frep Repulsive force Ib Current at the base

g Gravitational acceleration Ic Collector current

G̃ Shear modulus Idiff Diffusion current

G Reciprocal lattice vector Idrift Drift current

ĝ Landé splitting factor Ie Emitter current

g̃ Piezoelectric coefficient Ilight Photocurrent

G0 Reciprocal lattice vector Imax Maximum current

IR Infrared
GMR Giant magnetoresistance effect
Ir Current in the diode under reverse
h, h̄ Planck’s constant
bias
H Internal energy
I˜r Reflected intensity
H Magnetic field vector
I˜t Transmitted intensity
h, k, l Integer numbers (related to the j Integer number, counting index
Miller indices)
J Nucleation rate
(hkl) Miller indices of a crystallo-
graphic plane Jˆ Total angular momentum

3
Je Current density Le Diffusion length of electrons

Jhet Heterogeneous nucleation rate LED Light-emitting diode

→
− Lg Grain size
j Unit vector in y-direction

j1 , j2 Flux Ltot Total length

jX Flux of atomic species X LUMO Lowest unoccupied molecular or-

bital
k Counting index
m Mass
k Wave vector
M Madelung constant
K Number of components
M Magnetization
K Wave vector of lattice vibrations
m1 , m2 Mass
K̃ Bulk modulus
me Electron rest mass
→
−
k Unit vector in z-direction m∗e Effective mass of the electron
k0 Wave vector of the incident wave mH Mass of the hydrogen atom
k1 , k2 , k3 Wave vector m∗h Effective mass of the hole
kB Boltzmann constant mJ Magnetic moment of the atom
kmax Maximum wave vector ml Orbital magnetic quantum number
k0max Maximum wave vector of the mn Mass of the nth atom
diffracted beam
mm Magnetic dipole moment
kmin Minimum wave vector
MOS Metal–oxide–semiconductor
Kmin Minimum wave vector of lattice
MOSFET Metal–oxide–semiconductor field
vibrations
effect transistor
k0min Minimum wave vector of the
Mr Magnitude of the remanent mag-
diffracted beam
netization
L Length
mS Schmid factor
l Orbital quantum number
Ms Magnitude of the saturation mag-
` Liquid netization

L̂ Total orbital momentum ms Spin magnetic quantum number

l0 , l1 , l2 Length n Counting number; order of

diffraction; main quantum num-
ld Dislocation line length ber

4
N Number of atoms in the lattice p Pressure

n̂ Refraction index p Momentum

n1 , n2 , n3 Counting number P Number of Phases

NA Acceptor density p̃ Probability

NA Avogadro constant P Polarization

nC Number of Cooper pairs Pa Dipole moment of one atom

Nc Number of atoms in the corners of ph Number of holes

the unit cell Pi Ionic polarization
Ncrit Number of nuclei with a critical P m Polarization of 1 mol
radius
Pr Magnitude of the remanent polar-
Nd Number of dislocations ization
ND Donor density Ps Magnitude of the saturation polar-
ization
ne Number of electrons per unit vol-
ume P tot Total polarization

Ne Number of atoms at the edges of q Charge

the unit cell
QHE Quantum Hall effect
Nf Number of atoms at the faces of
qi Ionic charge
the unit cell
r Radius
ni Intrinsic carrier density
r Position vector
Ni Number of atoms in the interior of
the unit cell R Gas constant

n̂i Refraction index of the material i, R Lattice vector

i = 1, 2
R Resistance
hni i Average number of phonons in the
vibrational state i r̂ Constant

R̃ Reflectivity
Nuc Number of lattice points in the
unit cell r− Radius of the anion
Nv Number of vacancies in the lattice r+ Radius of the cation
NC Normal conductor R∞ Rydberg constant

NN Nearest neighbor r0 Equilibrium distance

5
r1 First Bohr radius T0 Period

ra , rb Nonequilibrium distance T1 , T2 Temperature

rf Radius of an atom in the fcc struc- t1 ,t2 ,t3 Time

ture
Tb Boiling temperature
RH Hall constant
Tc Jump temperature
ri Radius of an atom in an interstitial
position Te Characteristic temperature of heat
capacity of electrons
rj Position of atom j with respect to
a lattice point TEM Transmission electron microscopy

rn Radius of the nucleus Tm Melting temperature

rn∗ Critical radius of the nucleus u Elongation

RT Room temperature û Maximum elongation

s Scaling factor un Elongation of the nth atom

s Solid ûn Maximum elongation of the nth

atom
s Direction of the energy flow of a
wave U Voltage

S Entropy U0 Threshold voltage

S̃ Structure factor Us Internal energy of a solid

Ŝ Total spin momentum Ud Diffusion voltage

s0 Direction of the energy flow of the [uvw] Crystallographic direction

incident wave
huvwi Crystallographic set of crystallo-
sc Simple cubic graphically identical directions

SC Superconductor υ Velocity

SCR Space charge region V Volume

SQID Superconducting quantum inter- V0 Starting volume

ference device
υ 1,υ 2 Velocity
t Time
υ2 Magnitude og the mean square ve-
T Absolute temperature locity

T∗ Critical nucleation temperature Vc Volume of the unit cell

6
ῡE Magnitude of the drift velocity α̂ Linear expansion coefficient

υF Speed of electrons at the Fermi α̃ Absorption coefficient

edge
α̃0 Prefactor in the absorption coeffi-
υg Group velocity cient

VIS Visible light α̃a Absorption coefficient due to

phonon absorption
υl Speed of sound of longitudinal
waves α̃e Absorption coefficient due to
phonon emission
Vm Molar volume
αp Polarizability
υ max Maximum velocity
β Angle
VnG Fourier coefficient of the lattice
potential, n = 1, 2, 3 . . . βc Current gain
VR Lattice potential γ Angle
υs Speed of sound γ̂ Volume expansion coefficient
Vs Volume of a sphere γ0 Specific surface energy
υt Thermal speed γs Spring constant
w Width ∆E Uncertainty in the energy, differ-
wscr Width of the space-charge region ence in energy

Wv Vacancy formation energy ∆Ec Change in the position of the con-

duction band edge
x Coordinate
∆Ev Change in the position of the va-
xj Coordinate of atom j with respect lence band edge
to a lattice point
∆F Change in the free energy
y Coordinate
∆G Change in the free enthalpy
yj Coordinate of atom j with respect
to a lattice point ∆Ga Adsorption energy

z Coordinate ∆Gd Diffusion energy in the adsorption

layer
z0 Penetration depth
∆G∗het Heterogeneous nucleation energy
zj Coordinate of atom j with respect
to a lattice point ∆G∗n Nucleation work

α Angle ∆H Melting heat

7
∆Ib Change in the current at the tran- εp Plastic strain
sistor base
εr Dielectric constant
∆Ic Change in the collector current
εt True strain
∆k Change in the wave vector
χ Electric susceptibility
∆l Change in the length
χC Phase function of Cooper pairs
∆ne Excess electron density
χm Magnetic susceptibility
∆p Uncertainty in the momentum
κ Distribution coefficient
∆ph Excess hole density
ν Frequency
∆S Change in entropy
ν̃ Poisson’s constant
∆Sv Gain in entropy by vacancy for-
mation ν0 Threshold frequency
∆t Uncertainty in the time λ Wavelength
∆T Supercooling Λ Thermal conductivity
∆V Volume element Λe Thermal conductivity of electrons
∆x Distance λ̄ph Mean free path of phonons
∆y Uncertainty in the position Λph Thermal conductivity due to
∆χC Change in the phase function of phonons
Cooper pairs λ̄ Mean free path
∆ρX Change in the density of the λ̃ Lamé coefficient
atomic species X
λmin Minimum wavelength
ε Strain
λs Short wavelength limit
ε Strain tensor
µ Permeability
ε0 Dielectricity constant of the vac-
uum µ0 Permeability of the vacuum
εB Failure strain µB Bohr magneton
εe Elastic strain µe Mobility of electrons
εi j Component of the strain tensor, µh Mobility of holes
i, j = x, y, z
µl Orbital magnetic moment
εopt Dielectric constant at optical fre-
quencies µs Spin magnetic moment

8
Φ Workfunction ρm Mass density

φ Relative nucleation energy ρX Density of the atomic species X

Φ0 Quantum of the magnetic flux σ Stress

ΦA , ΦB Workfunction of metal A, B σ Stress tensor

Φc Contact potential Σ Strength-to-weight ratio

Φm Magnetic flux σ0.2 % 0.2 % offset yield stress

θ Angle σ1 , σ2 , σ3 Normal stress

θC Curie temperature σA Anelasticity limit of the stress

θD Debye temperature σB Failure stress

θh Hardening coefficient σe conductivity

Θ Incident angle σE Elasticity limit of the stress

ϑ Tilt angle σF Fracture stress

ΘB Bragg angle σi j Component of the stress tensor,

i, j = x, y, z
ψ Wave function
σH Proportionality limit of the stress
Ψ Angle between the normal of the
σK Maximum stress at the tip
slip plane and the direction of the
external force σpile Pile-up stress
ρ Dislocation density σS Upper yield stress
ρ0 Starting density σS0 Lower yield stress
ρ1 , ρ2 Density σt True stress
ρd Resistivity due to scattering at de- σtheo Theoretical breaking stress
fects
τ Shear stress
ρe Resistivity
τc Critical shear stress
ρf Final density
τd Relaxation time of scattering at
ρ` Density of the liquid lattice defects

ρph Resistivity due to phonon scatter- τmax Maximum shear stress

ing
τph Relaxation time of phonon scatter-
ρH Hall resistivity ing

9
τr Relaxation time

ϕ Phase angle

ω Angular frequency

ωc Cyclotron frequency

Ω Angular frequency of lattice vi-

brations

Ω̂ Mean angular frequency of lattice

vibrations

ω0 Angular frequency of the incident

wave

Ωak Angular frequency of acoustical

vibrations

ΩD Debye frequency

Ωopt Angular frequency of optical vi-

brations

ξ Integration variable

ξ Dislocation direction

ξˆ Coherence length

10