This slim and affordable book gives a gentle introduction to quantum mechanics, then applies these concepts and tools to examine the fundamental electronic properties of atoms and molecules, including their interaction with photons. It concludes with an analysis of the electronic properties of semiconductors and the pn junction, and the nonlinear response of optical materials to intense light.
Rather than presenting a reiteration of its historical development to motivate the introduction of QM, the author takes the direct approach of showing why Newtonian mechanics cannot be applied to analyzing the dynamics of particles on an atomic scale. In early chapters the author makes a systematic comparison of how the motion of particles is described in QM and in classical mechanics so that the reader unfamiliar with QM can make the necessary conceptual leaps from familiar ground. Periodically the book presents both the classical and quantum views of a particular problem to show the more detailed and subtle effects predicted by quantum mechanics.
I found presentation of the material was logical and with just enough depth to get a basic understanding of semiconductor and opto-electronic material properties. Although it is succinctly reviewed in the early chapters, a prior familiarity with the concepts of linear algebra will make for easier going in some sections.
