The Advanced Research Workshop on the Physical Properties of Semiconductor Interfaces at the Sub-Nanometer Scale was held from 31 August to 2 September, 1992, in Riva del Garda. Italy. The aim of the workshop was to bring together experts in different aspects of the study of semiconductor interfaces and in small-scale devices where the interface properties can be very significant It was our aim that this would help focus research of the growth and characterization of semiconductor interfaces at the atomic scale on the issues that will have the greatest impact on devices of the future. Some 30 participants from industrial and academic research institutes and from 11 countries contributed to the workshop with papers on their recent wode. . 'There was ample time for discussion after each talk. as well as a summary discussion at the end of the meeting. The major themes of the meeting are described below. The meeting included several talks relating to the different growth techniques used in heteroepitaxial growth of semiconductors. Horikoshi discussed the atomistic processes involved in MBE, MEE and MOCVD, presenting results of experimental RHEED and photoluminescence measurements; Foxon compared the merits of MBE, MOCVD, and eBE growth; Molder described RHEED studies of Si/Ge growth by GSMBE, and Pashley discussed the role of surface reconstructions in MBE growth as seen from STM studies on GaAs. On the theoretical side, Vvedensky described several different methods to model growth: molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo techniques, and analytic modeling.

The Advanced Research Workshop on the Physical Properties of Semiconductor Interfaces at the Sub-Nanometer Scale was held from 31 August to 2 September, 1992, in Riva del Garda. Italy. The aim of the workshop was to bring together experts in different aspects of the study of semiconductor interfaces and in small-scale devices where the interface properties can be very significant It was our aim that this would help focus research of the growth and characterization of semiconductor interfaces at the atomic scale on the issues that will have the greatest impact on devices of the future. Some 30 participants from industrial and academic research institutes and from 11 countries contributed to the workshop with papers on their recent wode. . 'There was ample time for discussion after each talk. as well as a summary discussion at the end of the meeting. The major themes of the meeting are described below. The meeting included several talks relating to the different growth techniques used in heteroepitaxial growth of semiconductors. Horikoshi discussed the atomistic processes involved in MBE, MEE and MOCVD, presenting results of experimental RHEED and photoluminescence measurements; Foxon compared the merits of MBE, MOCVD, and eBE growth; Molder described RHEED studies of Si/Ge growth by GSMBE, and Pashley discussed the role of surface reconstructions in MBE growth as seen from STM studies on GaAs. On the theoretical side, Vvedensky described several different methods to model growth: molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo techniques, and analytic modeling.

Ongoing developments in nanofabrication technology and the availability of novel materials have led to the emergence and evolution of new topics for mesoscopic research, including scanning-tunnelling microscopic studies of few-atom metallic clusters, discrete energy level spectroscopy, the prediction of Kondo-type physics in the transport properties of quantum dots, time dependent effects, and the properties of interacting systems, e.g. of Luttinger liquids. The overall understanding of each of these areas is still incomplete; nevertheless, with the foundations laid by studies in the more traditional systems there is no doubt that these new areas will advance mesoscopic electron transport to a new phenomenological level, both experimentally and theoretically. Mesoscopic Electron Transport highlights selected areas in the field, provides a comprehensive review of such systems, and also serves as an introduction to the new and developing areas of mesoscopic electron transport.

The control of optical modes in microcavities or in photonic bandgap (PBG) materials is coming of age! Although these ideas could have been developed some time ago, it is only recently that they have emerged, due to advances in both atomic physics and in fabrication techniques, be it on the high-quality dielectric mirrors required for high-finesse Fabry Perot resonators or in semiconductor multilayer deposition methods. Initially the principles of quantum electro-dynamics (QED) were demonstrated in elegant atomic physics experiments. Now solid-state implementations are being investigated, with several subtle differences from the atomic case such as those due to their continuum of electronic states or the near Boson nature of their elementary excitations, the exciton. Research into quantum optics brings us ever newer concepts with potential to improve system performance such as photon squeezing, quantum cryptography, reversible taps, photonic de Broglie waves and quantum computers. The possibility of implementing these ideas with solid-state systems gives us hope that some could indeed find their way to the market, demonstrating the continuing importance of basic research for applications, be it in a somewhat more focused way than in earlier times for funding.

An extensive body of research is involved in pushing miniaturisation to its physical limit, encompassing the miniaturisation of electronic devices, the manipulation of single atoms by scanning tunnelling microscopy, bio-engineering, the chemical synthesis of complex molecules, microsensor technology, and information storage and retrieval. In parallel to these practical aspects of miniaturisation there is also the necessity to understand the physics of small structures. Ultimate Limits of Fabrication and Measurement brings together a number of leading articles from a variety of fields with the common aim of ultimate miniaturisation and measurement.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Ringberg in Rottach Egern, Germany, February 20--24, 1995

This volume contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Atomic and Molecular Wires". It was sponsored by the Ministry of Scientific Affairs Division special program on Nanoscale Science with the support of the CNRS and the Max Planck Institute. Scientists working or interested in the properties of wires at a subnanoscale were brought together in Les Houches (France) from 6 to 10 May 1996. Subnanoscale wires can be fabricated either by surface physicists (atomic wires) or by synthetic chemists (molecular wires). Both communities present their foremost advances using, for example, STM to assemble atomic lines atom for atom, to fabricate a mask for such a line or using the wide range of chemical synthesis techniques to obtain long, rigid and conjugated oligomers. Interconnecting such tiny wires to sources (voltage, current) continues to demand a great technological effort. But nanolithography associated with microfabrication or STM are now clearly identified paths for measuring the electrical resistance of an atomic or a molecular wire. The first measurements have been reported on Xe , benzene, C ' di(phenylene-ethynylene) showing 2 60 the need for a deeper understanding of transport phenomena through subnanowires. Such transport phenomena like tunnel (off-resonance) transport and Coulomb blockade have been discussed by theorists with an emphasis on the exponential decrease of the tunnel current with the wire length versus the ballistic regime of transport.