Semiconductors Probed by Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy, Volume II discusses the use of ultrafast laser spectroscopy in studying fast physics in semiconductors. It reviews progress on the experimental and theoretical understanding of ultrafast events that occur on a picosecond and nanosecond time scale. This volume discusses electronic relaxation in amorphous semiconductors and the physical mechanisms during and after the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a semiconductor. It also covers the relaxation of carriers in semiconductors; transient optical pulse propagation; and methods of time-resolved spectroscopy. Scientists, engineers, and graduate students will find this book invaluable.

Semiconductors Probed by Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy, Volume 1 discusses the use of ultrafast laser spectroscopy in studying fast physics in semiconductors. It reviews progress on the experimental and theoretical understanding of ultrafast events that occur on a picosecond and nanosecond time scale. This volume first explores the relaxation of energy and the momentum of hot carriers and then turns to relaxation of plasmas and phonons. It also discusses the dynamics of excitons, polaritons, and excitonic molecules and reviews transient transport and diffusion of carriers. Scientists, engineers, and graduate students will find this book invaluable.

There are many books in the market devoted to the review of certain fields. This book is different from those in that authors not only provide reviews of the fields but also present their own important contributions to the fields in a tutorial way. As a result, researchers who are already in the field of ultrafast dynamics in semicon ductors and its device applications as well as researchers and graduate students just entering the field will benefit from it. This book is made up of recent new developments in the field of ultrafast dynamics in semiconductors. It consists of nine chapters. Chapter 1 reviews a mi croscopic many-body theory which allows one to compute the linear and non-linear optical properties of semiconductor superlattices in the presence of homogeneous electric fields. Chapter 2 deals with ultrafast intersubband dynamics in quantum wells and device structures. Chapter 3 is devoted to Bloch oscillations in semicon ductors and their applications. Chapter 4 discusses transient electron transport phe nomena, such as electron ballistic transport and electron velocity overshoot phe nomena as well as non-equilibrium phonon dynamics in nanostructure semicon ductors. Chapter 5 reviews experimental and theoretical work on the use of the phase properties of one or more ultrashort optical pulses to generate and control electrical currents in semiconductors.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, 13-16 June 2002

This volume reviews recent developments in the materials science of silicon. The topics discussed range from the fundamental characterization of the physical properties to the assessment of materials for device applications, and include: crystal growth; process-induced defects; topography; hydrogenation of silicon; impurities; and complexes and interactions between impurities. In view of its key position within the conference scope, several papers examine process induced defects: defects due to ion implantation, silicidation and dry etching, with emphasis being placed on the device aspects. Special attention is also paid to recent developments in characterization techniques on epitaxially grown silicon, and silicon-on-insulators.

This handbook is a compendium giving a comprehensive description of the basics of semiconductor physics relevant to the design and analysis of thin film solar cell materials. It starts from the basics of material science, describing the material and its growth, defect and electrical properties, the basics of its interaction with photons and the involved statistics, proceeding to space charge effects in semiconductors and pn-junctions. Most attention is given to analyze homo- and hetero-junction solar cells using various models and applying the field-of-direction analysis for discussing current voltage characteristics, and helping to discover the involvement of high-field effects in solar cells. The comprehensive coverage of the main topics of - and relating to - solar cells with extensive reference to literature helps scientists and engineers at all levels to reach a better understanding and improvement of solar cell properties and their production. The author is one of the founders of thin film solar cell research.