Department of Physics

10ΕΚ502 Physics of Molecules and Nanomaterials

Course webpage:   https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/PHYS235

Course outline

Course content

• Electronic structure of molecules. The hydrogen molecular ion: Method of linear combination of atomic orbitals. The hydrogen molecule: Molecular orbitals-valence bond method.
• Diatomic molecules: Homonuclear-heteronuclear. Polyatomic molecules. Delocalization. Hybridization.
• Nuclear motion of a diatomic molecule. Rotation. Vibration. Vibration-rotation. Molecular spectra. Raman effect. Electronic transitions: Franck-Condon principle.
• Tight binding method with many orbitals/unit cell. Electronic structure of polyacetylene. Graphene: π and σ energy bands, dispersion relation.
• Carbon nanotubes: Electronic structure (band folding, metallicity condition). Density of states. Energy transitions. Size effects.
• Imaging methods for nanomaterials: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM).