Book Description

The last decade has seen radical changes in our understand ing of the physical properties of semiconductors. It has been es tablished that the energy spectrum of electrons is much more complex than had originally been predicted: in many cases, there are several energy bands with different parameters. It has been found that the effective carrier mass, which had been assumed to be constant for a given material, depends on the carrier energy, temperature, pressure, and even the nature and number of de fects. Our understanding of the mechanism of the motion and scat tering of carriers, recombination mechanisms, and interaction with electromagnetic radiation has also changed. New applications of semiconducting materials have been discovered and old ones have been extended; these include high-power devices, devices sensitive to infrared radiation, and lasers. The visible evidence of the pro gress is in the form of hundreds of publications, some of which re port extremely refined and comprehensive investigations of semi conducting materials. A scientist concerned with investigations or applications of semiconducting materials or devices cannot ignore these publica tions because of the possibility of repeating work already done or of committing serious error. s. On the other hand, a beginner would require years to obtain a thorough understanding of the literature in his own narrow subject, and in many cases this process would be like the chase of a tortoise by Achilles in the paradox of Zeno of Elea (495-435 B. C'>.