Preface
Author biography
Symbols
Introduction

Part I Physics of Mott insulators

1 Electrons in crystalline solids
2 Electron-electron interaction in crystalline solids
3 Mott insulators and related phenomena: a basic introduction
4 Mott physics and magnetic insulators
5 Mott metal-insulator transition
6 Experimental studies on Mott metal-insulator transition

Part II Applications of Mott insulators

7 Electron band semiconductor devices

8 Mott insulator and strongly correlated electron materials based devices

A Some relevant experimental techniques

B Fermi-Dirac distribution function

C Idea of second quantization

D Green's function and Hubbard model

Discovered in the 1930s, Mott insulators are a class of materials that, whilst predicted to conduct electricity under conventional band theories, behave as insulators. They remained a subject of limited academic interest until recently, despite being a significant part of the citation for the 1977 Nobel prize, which was jointly awarded to Sir Nevill Mott, Philip W Anderson and John Hasbrouck van Vleck.

Following the discovery of high temperature superconductivity in several oxide materials in late 1980s, and the subsequent discovery of colossal magnetoresistance in another class of oxide compounds, there was renewed theoretical and experimental interest in the field of highly correlated electron systems, including Mott insulators. Mott insulators are now also being explored for applications in devices for information processing and storage. Possibilities of further applications in optical and thermal switches, thermo-chromic devices, gas sensors and even solar cell applications continue to drive interest in the subject.

Recent developments in the area of physics and materials science of Mott insulators have generated a considerable amount of information and the time has come to make this accessible to a wider community. Aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students of physics, chemistry, materials science, and electrical and electronics engineering, this book introduces the subject and reviews present knowledge in the field, enabling students and researchers to get acquainted with this interesting and emerging area of science and technology. The book will also be useful for professional researchers in academic institutions and industries already engaged in the programmes of correlated electron materials and devices.

Sindhunil Barman Roy is an emeritus professor at the UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, Indore. His research interests span basic and applied aspects of magnetism and superconductivity, and he has published more than 200 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He served on the editorial board of Superconductor Science and Technology between 2008 and 2014 and is a recipient of the Homi Bhabha Science and Technology Award of the Department of Atomic Energy, India, as well as a fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK.