This book focuses on the deliberate introduction and manipulation of defects and impurities in order to engineer desired properties in semiconductor materials and devices. In view of current exciting developments in wide-bandgap semiconductors like GaN for blue light emission, as well as high-speed and high-temperature electronics, dopant and defect issues relevant to these materials are addressed. Also featured are semiconductor nanocavities and nano-structures, with emphasis on the formation and impact of vacancy-type defects. Defect reaction problems pertaining to impurity gettering, precipitation and hydrogen passivation are specific examples of defect engineering that improve the electronic quality of the material. A number of papers also deal with characterization techniques needed to study and to identify defects in materials and device structures. Finally, papers also address issues such as interface control and passivation, application of ion implantation, plasma treatment and rapid thermal processing for creating/activating/suppressing trap levels, and device applications.

Advances in nanoscale materials processing are taking place at a rapid pace via myriad paths, including lithography, production of nanoparticle assemblies, surface manipulation and many others. Several of the techniques create structures that are three-dimensional or quasi three-dimensional. Even smaller structures intended to be two-dimensional have a 'more' three-dimensional geometry as their two-dimensional feature size and layer thickness become similar. The properties of these denser assemblies are driving different applications in electronics (single-electron devices), optics (photonic crystals and switches) and elsewhere. This 2003 book provides a venue for a productive scientific and technical exchange. The result is a compilation of papers which address fundamental studies, technological advances and novel approaches to developing and processing three-dimensional nanoscale assemblies. Topics include: nanofabrication via lithographic techniques; unconventional fabrication methods of nano-structures; physics, chemistry and modeling of nanostructures; fabrication and properties of 1D nanostructures; fabrication and properties of 3D nanostructures; applications of nanostructures and devices.

The evolution of semiconductor devices of progressively higher performance has generally followed improved material quality with ever fewer defect concentrations. However, a shift in focus over the years has brought the realization that complete elimination of defects in semiconductors during growth and processing is neither desirable nor necessary. It is expected that the future role of defects in semiconductors will be one of control - in density, properties, spatial location, and perhaps even temporal variation during the operating lifetime of the device. This book explores the effective use of defect control at various facets of technology and widely different semiconductor materials systems. Topics include: grown-in defects in bulk crystals; doping issues; grown-in defects in thin films; doping and defect issues in wide-gap semiconductors; process-induced defects and gettering; defect properties, reactions, activation and passivation; ion implantation and irradiation effects; defects in devices and interfaces; plasma processing; defect characterization; and interfaces, quantum wells and superlattices.

.".. ALTECH 2003 was Symposium J1 held at the 203rd Meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Paris, France from April 27 to May 2, 2003 ... Symposium M1, Diagnostic Techniques for Semiconductor Materials and Devices, was part of the 202nd Meeting of the Electrochemical Society held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from October 21 to 25, 2002 ..."--p. iii.

Defects such as dislocations, antiphase domains and grain boundaries, interstitials/substitutionals, and vacancies affect many physical and mechanical properties of ordered intermetallics. As a result, they often play a decisive role in determining the macroscopic behavior of not just structural intermetallics but also 'functional' intermetallics such as shape memory alloys and hydrogen storage materials. This book follows in the general tradition of the highly successful series of MRS symposia titled High-Temperature Ordered Intermetallic Alloys. However, it also represents a significant departure from its predecessors: it includes papers on functional intermetallics in addition to papers on structural intermetallics; and focuses on defects and how they affect various properties of interest in structural and functional intermetallics. Roughly 30 percent of the papers in the book are on functional intermetallics, including materials for hydrogen storage, magnetic, and shape memory applications. The remaining papers deal with structural intermetallics, including the still active areas of nickel-, iron-, and titanium-aluminides, as well as the newer materials for ultrahigh-temperature applications.