Despite the vast knowledge accumulated on silicon, germanium, and their alloys, these materials still demand research, eminently in view of the improvement of knowledge on silicon–germanium alloys and the potentialities of silicon as a substrate for high-efficiency solar cells and for compound semiconductors and the ongoing development of nanodevices based on nanowires and nanodots. Silicon, Germanium, and Their Alloys: Growth, Defects, Impurities, and Nanocrystals covers the entire spectrum of R&D activities in silicon, germanium, and their alloys, presenting the latest achievements in the field of crystal growth, point defects, extended defects, and impurities of silicon and germanium nanocrystals. World-recognized experts are the authors of the book’s chapters, which span bulk, thin film, and nanostructured materials growth and characterization problems, theoretical modeling, crystal defects, diffusion, and issues of key applicative value, including chemical etching as a defect delineation technique, the spectroscopic analysis of impurities, and the use of devices as tools for the measurement of materials quality.

Silicon germanium alloys have received considerable attention in recent years for their application in advanced high-speed electronic devices such as heterojunction bipolar transistors, as well as for their potential in optoelectronic devices. The oxidation behavior of this material, however, continues to be a troublesome issue which impedes its timely development. A two-pronged study has been completed which (1) introduces a low temperature, chemically enhanced oxidation process for Si$\rm \sb{1-x}$Ge$\rm\sb{x}$ and (2) furthers our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of Si$\rm\sb{1-x},$ Ge$\rm\sb{x},$ oxidation. Epitaxial thin films of Si$\rm\sb{1-x}Ge\sb{x},$ x $\leq$ 0.23, on(100) Si have been oxidized in either a double-walled quartz furnace in an O$\sb2$ ambient with parts per million additions of NF$\sb3,$ or in an ultrahigh vacuum environment using O$\sb2$ with sophisticated in situ analysis by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Liquid-Phase Epitaxy (LPE) is a technique used in the bulk growth of crystals, typically in semiconductor manufacturing, whereby the crystal is grown from a rich solution of the semiconductor onto a substrate in layers, each of which is formed by supersaturation or cooling. At least 50% of growth in the optoelectronics area is currently focussed on LPE. This book covers the bulk growth of semiconductors, i.e. silicon, gallium arsenide, cadmium mercury telluride, indium phosphide, indium antimonide, gallium nitride, cadmium zinc telluride, a range of wide-bandgap II-VI compounds, diamond and silicon carbide, and a wide range of oxides/fluorides (including sapphire and quartz) that are used in many industrial applications. A separate chapter is devoted to the fascinating field of growth in various forms of microgravity, an activity that is approximately 30-years old and which has revealed many interesting features, some of which have been very surprising to experimenters and theoreticians alike. Covers the most important materials within the field The contributors come from a wide variety of countries and include both academics and industrialists, to give a balanced treatment Builds-on an established series known in the community Highly pertinent to current and future developments in telecommunications and computer-processing industries.