Optical Processes in Solids [Paperback]

This book, first published in 2003, is a graduate textbook in condensed matter physics and optics.Light (electromagnetic radiation) is the most powerful tool for probing the quantum mechanical motions of electrons and nuclei within molecules and condensed matter. In this book the author describes the principles of such spectroscopic study with the help of illustrative comparison between theory and experimental studies.Light (electromagnetic radiation) is the most powerful tool for probing the quantum mechanical motions of electrons and nuclei within molecules and condensed matter. In this book the author describes the principles of such spectroscopic study with the help of illustrative comparison between theory and experimental studies.Light, or electromagnetic wave, is the most powerful tool for probing the quantum mechanical motions of electrons and nuclei within molecules and condensed matter. Optical Processes in Solids describes the principles of this spectroscopic study with the help of illustrative comparisons of theoretical and experimental results that take into account the revolutionary progress brought about by the use of intense lasers and high-energy synchrotron light. In the final chapter Yutaka Toyozawa presents a speculative scenario on how solar light may have caused chemical reactions among atoms and molecules, leading to the creation and evolution of life on earth.Introduction; 1. Radiation field; 2. Quantum mechanics and the harmonic oscillator; 3. The interaction of radiation with matter; 4. Electronic versus nuclear motions and the optical spectra of localized electrons in solids; 5. Lattice vibrations; 6. Electric susceptibility and the dielectric constant; 7. One electron states in solids; 8. Excitons; 9. Polarons and the self-trapped state; 10. Optical spectra of excitons in the phonon field; 11. Higher order optical processes; 12. Inner shell excitation; 13. Photo-induced structural changes; 14. Light, matter, and life.