New Publication

This tutorial-article explores two ways of looking at defects in solids. One perspective, called defect chemistry, treats them with chemical reaction rules: concentrations of defects change depending on the chemical environment, and everything must balance in terms of charge and atoms. The other perspective, defect physics, uses thermodynamics and quantum mechanics to calculate how much energy is needed to form a defect. This energy depends on both the position of the Fermi level and the chemical environment.