![]() Many properties of materials are affected by their crystal structure. Today, solid-state physics is broadly considered to be the subfield of condensed matter physics, often referred to as hard condensed matter, that focuses on the properties of solids with regular crystal lattices.Ĭrystal structure and properties An example of a cubic lattice During the early Cold War, research in solid state physics was often not restricted to solids, which led some physicists in the 1970s and 1980s to found the field of condensed matter physics, which organized around common techniques used to investigate solids, liquids, plasmas, and other complex matter. In the United States and Europe, solid state became a prominent field through its investigations into semiconductors, superconductivity, nuclear magnetic resonance, and diverse other phenomena. Large communities of solid state physicists also emerged in Europe after World War II, in particular in England, Germany, and the Soviet Union. By the early 1960s, the DSSP was the largest division of the American Physical Society. The DSSP catered to industrial physicists, and solid-state physics became associated with the technological applications made possible by research on solids. The physical properties of solids have been common subjects of scientific inquiry for centuries, but a separate field going by the name of solid-state physics did not emerge until the 1940s, in particular with the establishment of the Division of Solid State Physics (DSSP) within the American Physical Society. ![]() The differences between the types of solid result from the differences between their bonding. In solid form, the noble gases are held together with van der Waals forces resulting from the polarisation of the electronic charge cloud on each atom. Finally, the noble gases do not undergo any of these types of bonding. In metals, electrons are shared amongst the whole crystal in metallic bonding. In others, the atoms share electrons and form covalent bonds. For example, in a crystal of sodium chloride (common salt), the crystal is made up of ionic sodium and chlorine, and held together with ionic bonds. The forces between the atoms in a crystal can take a variety of forms. Likewise, crystalline materials often have electrical, magnetic, optical, or mechanical properties that can be exploited for engineering purposes. Primarily, this is because the periodicity of atoms in a crystal - its defining characteristic - facilitates mathematical modeling. The bulk of solid-state physics, as a general theory, is focused on crystals. Depending on the material involved and the conditions in which it was formed, the atoms may be arranged in a regular, geometric pattern ( crystalline solids, which include metals and ordinary water ice) or irregularly (an amorphous solid such as common window glass). ![]() hardness and elasticity), thermal, electrical, magnetic and optical properties of solids. These interactions produce the mechanical (e.g. Solid materials are formed from densely packed atoms, which interact intensely. Along with solid-state chemistry, it also has direct applications in the technology of transistors and semiconductors. Thus, solid-state physics forms a theoretical basis of materials science. Solid-state physics studies how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from their atomic-scale properties. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. ![]() Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. For theories in political science, see State (polity). ![]()
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