The aim of this NATO ASI has been to present an up-to-date overview of current areas of interest in amorphous materials, with particular emphasis on electronic properties and device applications. In order to limit the material to a manageable amount, the meeting was concerned almost exclusively with semiconducting materials. This volume should be regarded as a follow-on to the NATO ASI held in Sozopol, Bulgaria in 1996 and published as "Amorphous Insulators and Semiconductors" edited by M.F. Thorpe and M.1. Mitkova (Kluwer Academic Publishers, NATO ASI series, 3 High Technology - Vol. 23). The lectures and seminars fill the gap between graduate courses and research seminars. The lecturers and seminar speakers were chosen as experts in their respective areas, and the lectures and seminars that were given are presented in this volume. During the first week of the meeting, an emphasis was placed on introductory lectures while the second week focused more on research seminars. There were two very good poster sessions that generated a lot of discussion, but these are not reproduced in this volume as the editors wanted to have only larger contributions to make the proceedings more coherent.

Amorphous and nanocrystalline materials are a class of their own. Their properties are quite different to those of the corresponding crystalline materials. This book gives systematic insight into their physical properties, structure, behaviour, and design for special advanced applications.

This book gives the first systematic and complete survey of technology and application of amorphous silicon, a material with a huge potential in electronic applications. The book features contributions by world-wide leading researchers in this field.

Optical Properties of Crystalline and Amorphous Semiconductors: Materials and Fundamental Principles presents an introduction to the fundamental optical properties of semiconductors. This book presents tutorial articles in the categories of materials and fundamental principles (Chapter 1), optical properties in the reststrahlen region (Chapter 2), those in the interband transition region (Chapters 3 and 4) and at or below the fundamental absorption edge (Chapter 5). Optical Properties of Crystalline and Amorphous Semiconductors: Materials and Fundamental Principles is presented in a form which could serve to teach the underlying concepts of semiconductor optical properties and their implementation. This book is an invaluable resource for device engineers, solid-state physicists, material scientists and students specializing in the fields of semiconductor physics and device engineering.

Amorphous semiconductors are subtances in the amorphous solid state that have the properties of a semiconductor and which are either covalent or tetrahedrally bonded amorphous semiconductors or chelcogenide glasses. Developed from both a theoretical and experimental viewpoint Deals with, amongst others, preparation techniques, structural, optical and electronic properties, and light induced phenomena Explores different types of amorphous semiconductors including amorphous silicon, amorphous semiconducting oxides and chalcogenide glasses Applications include solar cells, thin film transistors, sensors, optical memory devices and flat screen devices including televisions

A valuable overview covering important fundamental and applicative aspects of amorphous nanomaterials! Amorphous nanomaterials are very important in non-crystalline solids, which have emerged as a new category of advanced materials. Compared to the crystalline counterpart, amorphous nanomaterials with isotropic nature always exhibit fast ion diffusion, relieved strain, and higher reactivity, enabling such materials to exhibit high performance in mechanics and catalysis, as well as other interesting properties. Amorphous Nanomaterials: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications covers the fundamental concept, synthesis, characterization, properties, and applications of nanoscaled amorphous materials. It starts with the introduction of amorphous materials, then gives a global view of the history, structure, and growth mechanism of amorphous nanomaterials. Subsequently, some powerful techniques to characterize amorphous materials, such as X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, spherical aberration electron microscope, in-situ-Transmission Electron Microscope, Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy, and some other defect characterization technologies are included. Furthermore, the emerging innovative methods to fabricate well-defined, regularshaped amorphous nanomaterials, including zero-, one-, two-, and three-dimensional amorphous nanomaterials are systematically introduced. The fascinating properties and applications related to amorphous nanomaterials including the applications in electrocatalysis, batteries, supercapacitors, photocatalysis, mechanics, etc., are presented. It will greatly help the researchers to find professional answers related to amorphous materials. Great topic: amorphous nanomaterials are a very large and important field in both academia and industry Comprehensive: in-depth discussion of various important aspects, from both a fundamental and an applied point of view, on the chemistry, physics and technological importance of the amorphous nanomaterials are presented Vitally needed: the understanding of the fundamentals of amorphous nanomaterials is a prerequisite for devising new applications of such materials Highly relevant: amorphous nanomaterials have found specific applications in chemistry, catalysis, physics, sensing, batteries, supercapacitors, and engineering Amorphous Nanomaterials is a vital resource for materials scientists, inorganic and physical chemists, solid state chemists, physicists, catalytic and analytical chemists, as well as organic chemists.

Index of amorphous alloys