Molecular Solid State Physics

§This book is about the new materials now being created in order to fulfil specific scientific needs. This is one of the key fields within the new discipline of Molecular Engineering. The principles governing the structure of solids and their surfaces are described with examples drawn from ionic crystals, molecular crystals, valence crystals and alloys. Although many of the topics are related to Solid State Physics they are here introduced from a chemical rather than a physical point of view in order to open up the subject to a wider audience. The main text tries to remain simple by exploiting fully a modest number of theoretical ideas. An important aim of the text is to bridge the gap between the average chemistry degree course and the rapidly expanding research literature of the subject. §Der Autor erklärt die Struktur der festen Materie mit Bezug auf ihre beobachtbaren Eigenschaften. Die Rolle der Oberfläche wird ebenso dargestellt wie die möglichen katalytischen Eigenschaften von Clustern. Kooperative Effekte in Festkörpern und Legierungen werden mit einfachen Modellen beschrieben. Die physikalischen Grundlagen erklärt der Autor in der Sprache und mit den Modellen der Chemiker. Das Buch wendet sich an Chemiestudenten im 2. Studienabschnitt, die sich mit den Grundlagen des "Molecular Engineering" vertraut machen wollen. This book originated from a course which I developed for the Master's degree course in Molecular Engineering in Kyoto University. Most of the students had degrees in Chemistry and a limited experience of Physics and Mathematics. Since research in Molecular Engineering requires knowledge of some applications of solid state physics which are not treated in conventional physics texts it was necessary to devise a course which would build on their chemical background and enable them to read the contemporary literature of relevance to their research. I hope that this book will be found useful as a text for other advanced courses on material science for chemists. Molecular Engineering is concerned with the design and construction, at the molecular level, of materials which can fulfil specific functions. Thus the study of the forces between molecules and the influence of molecular shapes and electrostatic features on molecular properties are important. The mechanisms whereby, in the solid state, these produce cooperative effects, catalytic effects and abnormal electrical effects must be understood, at least qualitatively. The aim of this book has been to give insight into the mechanisms whereby molecules influence one another when they are close together.