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Introduction to
SOLID STATE PHYSICS
Charles Kittel
PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
New York - JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc.
London : CHAPMAN & HALL, Ltd. Covyesows,
Br
Joun Wier & Sons, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
his book or any part thereof must not
be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 53-7203
Printed in the United States of America Preface
This volume is intended as an introductory textbook in solid state
physics for senior and beginning graduate students in physics, chemis-
try, and engineering. My object has been to write an elementary
and short account of representative aspects of the physics of solids.
The level of presentation supposes that the reader will have a general
familiarity with modern atomic physics to the extent of the under-
graduate courses offered under this title in many universities. A
course in quantum mechanics is not a prerequisite to reading this
book, but the reader should have been exposed to the Planck radiation
law, the de Broglie relation, the Bohr theory of the hydrogen atom,
the Zeeman effect, and the wave equation for free particles. Advanced
topies in solids, in particular those requiring a formal background of
quantum mechanies, are developed in appendices.
Solid state physics is a very wide field, and it includes many branches.
It is concerned with the physical properties of solids, particularly the
special properties exhibited by atoms and molecules because of their
association in the solid phase. The existence of powerful theoretical
methods and concepts applicable to a wide range of problems has been.
an important unifying influence in the field. It is quite natural
therefore that an introductory textbook should emphasize theoretical
models of solids, rather than the details of experimental techniques or
the results of measurements on complicated systems which may have
great industrial importance. In the selection of material I have
frankly favored those areas which may be discussed in terms of simple,
conerete, and well-developed models. This selection principle is the
explanation of the emphasis on dielectric and magnetic properties and
of the absence of emphasis on phosphors and on metallurgical prob-
lems, for example.
The major problem in writing this book has been to conform to
reasonable limitations on the length, in keeping with the spirit of an
introductory textbook. It is not intended to be a general reference
book. Several active and important branches of solid state physics
have not been mentioned at all. Among the topics omitted are internal
friction, photographic theory, thermoelectric effects, phase diagrams,
fracture, creep, grain boundaries, melting phenomena, field emission,
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