Everyone who studies, develops or utilizes modern semiconductor materials must be aware of the importance of low-dimensional structures in optical and electronic devices, crystal growth, semiconductor theory and experiment, and semiconductor material science and chemistry. Virtually every major university in the world has one or several growth facilities dedicated to basic studies of growth processes, the fabrication of heterostructures for device applications, or exploration studies of the properties of new structures. Such facilities reside in physics, chemistry, materials science departments or in electrical, chemical, or mechanical engineering departments. These factors underscore both the inherent interdisciplinary of modern semiconductor science and technology as well as the need for basic textbooks which are appropriate for students across these disciplines.

This book is aimed at the graduate-level student who has completed a first degree in physics, material science, chemistry, or one of the major engineering disciplines. It is based on an advanced Masters-level course which has been given at Imperial College for some years. Like the Masters course itself, the interdisciplinary nature of the subject is reflected in the choice of authors from different departments, colleges and from the University of London Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Semiconductor Materials (now the Centre for Electronic Materials and Devices). Many of the exercises which follow each chapter, and which we regard as an integral part of this book, have been tested by our students either as assignments during the course or as adaptations of examination questions.