Fedor T. Vasko – författare

This book provides the theoretical basis and the relevant experimental knowledge underlying our present understanding of the electrical and optical properties of semiconductor heterostructures. Although such structures have been known since the 1940s, it was only in the 1980s that they moved to the forefront of research, largely due to technological developments that made it possible to grow several ultrathin layers of different materials _ down to a few atoms in thickness _ on top of a silicon or other substrates. The resulting structures have remarkable properties not shared by bulk materials. One can, for example, confine the motions of electrons to a single layer, making it possible to investigate effectively two-dimensional systems. One can also build materials with large-scale periodicities by alternating layers of different compositions, thereby modulating the optical and electronic properties of the resulting structure. The text begins with a description of the electronic properties of various types of heterostructures, including discussions of complex band-structure effects, localized states, tunneling phenomena, and excitonic states.The focus of most of the remainder of the book is on optical properties, including intraband absorption, luminescence and recombination, Raman scattering, subband optical transitions, nonlinear effects, and ultrafast optical phenomena. The concluding chapter presents an overview of some of the applications that make use of the physics discussed. Appendices provide ackground information on band structure theoy, kinetic theory, electromagnetic modes, and Coulomb effects. Intended for graduate students, physicists, and engineers beginning research on semiconductor heterostructures or interested in their

The study of semiconductor heterostructures started more than forty years ago. In the 1980s this area of research moved to the forefront of semiconduc­ tor physics, largely due to progress in growth technologies which are now capable of producing ultrathin layers (up to a few monolayers) of different semiconductor materials. The availability of structures with nearly ideal, well-controlled properties has made semiconductor heterostructures a test­ ing ground for solid-state physics. These structures have had a profound impact on basic research in semiconductor physics by opening new possibil­ ities for studying low-dimensional electrons, as well as the atomic and elec­ tronic properties of interfaces. Semiconductor heterostructures have also a variety of important practical applications: they provide a material basis for a number of novel devices, and also open the way for improving the operating characteristics of traditional micro- and optoelectronic compo­ nents. As a result of the growing importance of heterostructure physics, more and more people are entering this dynamic field, either from graduate school or from other areas of research. For the new entrants, the task of familiariz­ ing themselves with the vast body of existing knowledge about heterostruc­ tures has become quite a challenge, due to the rapid development of the field and its increasing subdivision into distinct subfields. Even for those who already work in one area of heterostructure physics, keeping up with the developments in neighboring areas is not an easy task. The purpose of this book is to make heterostructure physics more accessible.