für Elektrotechniker und Informatiker
Der Autor zeigt an Beispielen aus der Festkörperelektronik und der Quanteninformationstechnologie, welche Rolle quantenmechanische Konzepte in der modernen Energie-, Kommunikations- und Informationstechnik spielen.
Quantum mechanics (QM) is latently present in the life of electrical engineers already, since the hardware of todays information technology - from electrical data processing, through interconversion of electronic and optical information, to data storage and visualization - works on QM principles. New developments in micro- and opto-electronics and the advent of quantum information processing will soon make the active understanding of QM unavoidable for engineers, too. Unfortunately, the principles of QM can only be formulated mathematically, so even introductory books on the subject are mostly rather abstract. This book, written mainly for BSc students, tries to help the reader by showing „QM in action“, demonstrating its surprising effects directly in applications, like lighting technology, lasers, photo- and solar cells, flash memories and quantum bits. While the axioms and basic concepts of quantum mechanics are introduced without compromises, the math is kept at a level which is required from electrical engineers anyhow. Computational work is spared by the use of Applets which also visualize the results. Among the host of other didactic features are learning objectives, chapter summaries, self-testing questions, and problems with solutions, while two appendices summarize the knowledge in classical physics and mathematics which is needed for this book.
Combining theory and applications, this book deals with the modelling of materials properties and phenomena at atomic level.The first part provides an overview of the state of the art of computational solid state physics. Emphasis is given on the understanding of approximations and their consequences regarding the accuracy of the results. This part of the book also deals as a guide to find the best method for a given purpose.The second part offers a potpourri of interesting topical applications, showing what can be achieved by computational modelling. Here the possibilities and the limits of the methods are stressed.A CD-ROM supplies various demo programmes of applications.