): Represents how much light is lost to absorption as it travels through the solid. 4. Important Optical Phenomena
At its core, the response of a solid to light is determined by its ( ) and its dielectric function ( Optical Properties of Solids
): Determines the speed of light in the material and how much it "bends" (refraction). Extinction Coefficient ( ): Represents how much light is lost to
The most critical factor in a solid's optical behavior is its . Insulators and Semiconductors: These have a "band gap" ( Egcap E sub g ). If a photon's energy ( ) is greater than Egcap E sub g Extinction Coefficient ( The most critical factor in
, it can kick an electron from the valence band to the conduction band, causing absorption.
Energy from photons is transferred to the solid. This happens when the photon energy matches the energy gap between electronic states.