Tensor Properties of Crystals

As the use of single crystals in scientific and technological applications has become increasingly important, so has an understanding of the variation of physical properties with crystalline direction. Such knowledge is needed to maximize the performance of solid state devices and many useful effects can be produced only in materials of the correct orientation. Tensor Properties of Crystals demonstrates how the application of tensors to a study of crystalline materials fulfils this need. This concise introduction to the subject is written from a physical, rather than mathematical, approach, although the reader needs some prior knowledge of vectors. After a discussion of crystal symmetry and an introduction to the uses of and differences in tensors, Tensor Properties of Crystals discusses applications to such areas as conductivity, elasticity and crystal optics. Each application illustrates particular features of the use of tensors, equipping the reader with principles that can be applied to any physical situation. Extensive use of diagrams, worked examples and problems with answers completes this useful textbook for undergraduate and graduate students of physics, materials science, chemistry, electronic engineering, optoelectronics and geophysics. Scientists investigating or utilising the properties of single crystals will also find this book of value. The Author After carrying out research in the Materials Section of the Electrical Engineering Department of Imperial College, David Lovett was appointed lecturer at Essex University in 1966. His teaching has moved from chemical to mainstream physics and his research interests have included the electrical and thermal properties of semiconductors and the x-ray topography of materials. At present his research is mainly in the area of thin films prepared by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. other_titles