Abstract

This tutorial chapter provides a synopsis of the theoretical concepts needed for understanding subsequent chapters. The concepts of engineering strain, true strain, Eulerian strain and in particular, the tensor nature of strain are first introduced. The components of the stress tensor which give rise to strain are next discussed. The three main elastic properties of solids namely: Young’s modulus, shear modulus and Poisson’s ratio are defined. The piezoresistance effect introduced in the first chapter is discussed quantitatively. This is followed by two topics on the optical properties of semiconductors, the Kramers-Kronig relation and the optical joint density of states used in optical strain metrology.