The Materials Science Of Semiconductors

This book describes semiconductors from a materials science perspective rather than from condensed matter physics or electrical engineering viewpoints. It includes discussion of current approaches to organic materials for electronic devices. It further describes the fundamental aspects of thin film nucleation and growth, and the most common physical and chemical vapor deposition techniques. Examples of the application of the concepts in each chapter to specific problems or situations are included, along with recommended readings and homework problems.

Excellent bridge between general solid-state physics textbook and research articles packed with providing detailed explanations of the electronic, vibrational, transport, and optical properties of semiconductors "The most striking feature of the book is its modern outlook ... provides a wonderful foundation. The most wonderful feature is its efficient style of exposition ... an excellent book." Physics Today "Presents the theoretical derivations carefully and in detail and gives thorough discussions of the experimental results it presents. This makes it an excellent textbook both for learners and for more experienced researchers wishing to check facts. I have enjoyed reading it and strongly recommend it as a text for anyone working with semiconductors ... I know of no better text ... I am sure most semiconductor physicists will find this book useful and I recommend it to them." Contemporary Physics Offers much new material: an extensive appendix about the important and by now well-established, deep center known as the DX center, additional problems and the solutions to over fifty of the problems at the end of the various chapters.

The book describes the fundamentals, latest developments and use of key experimental techniques for semiconductor research. It explains the application potential of various analytical methods and discusses the opportunities to apply particular analytical techniques to study novel semiconductor compounds, such as dilute nitride alloys. The emphasis is on the technique rather than on the particular system studied.

The technological progress is closely related to the developments of various materials and tools made of those materials. Even the different ages have been defined in relation to the materials used. Some of the major attributes of the present-day age (i.e., the electronic materials’ age) are such common tools as computers and fiber-optic telecommunication systems, in which semiconductor materials provide vital components for various mic- electronic and optoelectronic devices in applications such as computing, memory storage, and communication. The field of semiconductors encompasses a variety of disciplines. This book is not intended to provide a comprehensive description of a wide range of semiconductor properties or of a continually increasing number of the semiconductor device applications. Rather, the main purpose of this book is to provide an introductory perspective on the basic principles of semiconductor materials and their applications that are described in a relatively concise format in a single volume. Thus, this book should especially be suitable as an introductory text for a single course on semiconductor materials that may be taken by both undergraduate and graduate engineering students. This book should also be useful, as a concise reference on semiconductor materials, for researchers working in a wide variety of fields in physical and engineering sciences.

Semiconductor Materials presents physico-chemical, electronic, electrical, elastic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, and other properties of a vast group of elemental, binary, and ternary inorganic semiconductors and their solid solutions. It also discusses the properties of organic semiconductors. Descriptions are given of the most commonly used semiconductor devices-charge-coupled devices, field-effect transistors, unijunction transistors, thyristors, Zener and avalanche diodes, and photodiodes and lasers. The current trend of transitioning from silicon technology to gallium arsenide technology in field-effect-based electronic devices is a special feature that is also covered. More than 300 figures and 100 tables highlight discussions in the text, and more than 2,000 references guide you to further sources on specific topics. Semiconductor Materials is a relatively compact book containing vast information on semiconductor material properties. Readers can compare results of the property measurements that have been reported by different authors and critically compare the data using the reference information contained in the book. Engineers who design and improve semiconductor devices, researchers in physics and chemistry, and students of materials science and electronics will find this a valuable guide.

Organic semiconductors offer unique characteristics which have prompted the application of organic semiconductors and their devices in physical, chemical, and biological sensors. This book covers this emerging field by discussing both optically- and electrically-based sensor concepts. Novel transducers based on organic light-emitting diodes and organic thin-film transistors, as well as systems-on-a-chip architectures are presented. Functionalization techniques are also outlined.

This book describes the key theoretical techniques for semiconductor research to quantitatively calculate and simulate the properties. It presents particular techniques to study novel semiconductor materials, such as 2D heterostructures, quantum wires, quantum dots and nitrogen containing III-V alloys. The book is aimed primarily at newcomers working in the field of semiconductor physics to give guidance in theory and experiment. The theoretical techniques for electronic and optoelectronic devices are explained in detail.