The interaction of particles and photons with solid surfaces is interdisci plinary in character, so that very recent developments in solid-state phys ics, surface physics and atomic physics stimulate progress in the field or profit from results of the "ion-solid" community. Technical interest in the field ranges from catalysis and semiconductor manufacturing to fusion re search, for instance by surface analytical techniques, or interest in phenom ena such as sputtering and radiation damage. The Third International Workshop on Inelastic Ion-Surface Coll isions, held at Feldkirchen-Westerham under the auspices of Max-Planck-Institut fUr Plasmaphysik, Garching, Fed. Rep. of Germany, brought together 63 scientists from 12 countries for three days of very involved discussions. As at the pre vious workshops at Bell Laboratories in 1976 and McMaster University in 1978, the experiment of gathering experts from seemingly different disciplines was very successful in promoting the basic physical ideas. The proceedings contain the 14 major reviews and a smaller number of con tributions presented at the workshop. All papers have been reviewed with little delay, and the reviewer's efforts are gratefully acknowledged. The first group of papers is concerned with theoretical and experimental aspects of secondary electron emission due to ion impact, including the potential emission caused by slow metastables. This is followed by reviews of exper iments and recent theoretical developments of electron- and photon-induced desorption.

Laser processing is now a rapidly increasing field with many real and potential applications in different areas of technology such as micromecha nics, metallurgy, integrated optics, and semiconductor device fabrication. The neces s ity for such soph i st i cated 1 i ght sources as 1 asers is based on the spatial coherence and the monochromaticity of laser light. The spatial coherence permits extreme focussing of the laser light resulting in the availability of high energy densities which can be used for strongly loca lized heat- and chemical-treatment of materials, with a resolution down to 1 ess than 1 lJIll. When us i ng pul sed or scanned cw-l asers, 1 oca 1 i zat i on in time is also possible. Additionally, the monochromaticity of laser light allows for control of the depth of heat treatment and/or selective, nonthermal bond breaking - within the surface of the material or within the molecules of the surrounding reactive atmosphere - simply by tuning the laser wavelength. These inherent advantages of laser light permit micromachining of materials (drilling, cutting, welding etc.) and also allow single-step controlled area processing of thin films and surfaces. Processes include structural transformation (removal of residual damage, grain growth in polycrystalline material, amorphization, surface hardening etc.), etching, doping, alloying, or deposition. In addition, laser processing is not 1 imited to planar substrates.

The INFOS 81 Conference on Insulating Films on Semiconductors was held at the University of Erlangen-NUrnberg in Erlangen from 27 to 29 April 1981. This conference was a sequel to the first conference INFOS 79 held in Durham. INFOS 81 attracted 170 participants from universities, research institutes and industry. Attendants were registered from 15 nations. The biannual topical conference series will be continued by INFOS 83 to be held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in April 1983. The conference proceedings include all the invited (Y) and contrlDUtea (42) papers presented at the meeting. The topics range from the basic physical understanding of the properties of insulating films and their interface to semiconductors to the discussion of stability and dielectric strength as well as growing and deposition techniques which are relevant for technical applications. Strong emphasis was given to the semiconductor silicon and its native oxide; however, sessions on compound semiconductors and other insulating films also raised strong interest. The proceedings survey the present state of our understanding of the system of insulating films on semiconductors. As a new aspect of the topic, the properties of semiconductors deposited and laser processed on insulating films was in cluded for the first time.

The Workshop on Desorption Induced by Electronic Transitions (DIET) took place May 12-14, 1982, in Williamsburg, Virginia. The meeting brought together, for the first time, most of the leading workers in the fields of electron and photon stimulated desorption from surfaces, as well as many workers in related fields, including sputtering, gas-phase photodissociation and solid-state theory. The emphasis of the workshop was on the microscopic mechanism of stimu lated desorption. Many possible mechanisms have been proposed, and a few new ones emerged at the meeting. Though no consensus was reached, many views were espoused and criticized, frequently with considerable enthusiasm. The result was an appraisal of our current understanding of DIET, and a focus on the experimental and theoretical efforts most likely to lead to new insights. This volume is an attempt to record the information exchanged in this very successful workshop and, perhaps, convey some of the excitement of the field of DIET. The book is a collection of papers written by participants in the DIET workshop, including in addition a contribution from Dietrich Menzel, who was unable to attend. Thus, this book represents a complete statement of the state of the art of experimental and theoretical studies of DIET and related phenomena. More importantly, it addresses the interesting unsolved problems, and suggests strategies for unraveling them. We acknowledge the assistance given by the other members of the organizing committee, A. E. de Vries, R. Gomer, M. L. Knotek, D. Menzel and D. P.