We live in a time of great change. In the electronics world, the last several decades have seen unprecedented growth and advancement, described by Moore's law. This observation stated that transistor density in integrated circuits doubles every 1. 5-2 years. This came with the simultaneous improvement of individual device perf- mance as well as the reduction of device power such that the total power of the resulting ICs remained under control. No trend remains constant forever, and this is unfortunately the case with Moore's law. The trouble began a number of years ago when CMOS devices were no longer able to proceed along the classical scaling trends. Key device parameters such as gate oxide thickness were simply no longer able to scale. As a result, device o- state currents began to creep up at an alarming rate. These continuing problems with classical scaling have led to a leveling off of IC clock speeds to the range of several GHz. Of course, chips can be clocked higher but the thermal issues become unmanageable. This has led to the recent trend toward microprocessors with mul- ple cores, each running at a few GHz at the most. The goal is to continue improving performance via parallelism by adding more and more cores instead of increasing speed. The challenge here is to ensure that general purpose codes can be ef?ciently parallelized. There is another potential solution to the problem of how to improve CMOS technology performance: three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs).

Diluted magnetic semiconductors, or semimagnetic semiconductors, seemed for a while to be one of those research topics whose glory (i. e. , the period of most ext- sive research) belongedalready to the past. This particularlyapplied to "traditional" diluted magnetic semiconductors, i. e. , substitutional alloys of either II-VI or IV-VI semiconductors with transition metal ions. Fortunately, a discovery, in the beg- ning of the nineties [1,2], of ferromagnetic ordering in III-V DMSs with critical temperatures reaching 170 K has renewed and greatly intensi ed an interest in those materials. This was, at least partially, related to expectations that their Curie temperatures can be relatively easily brought to room temperature range through a clearly delineatedpath and,partially,due to the great successes, also commercial,of metallic version of spintronics, which earned its founders the Nobel Prize in 2007. The semiconductor version of spintronics has attracted researchers also because of hopes to engage it in efforts to construct quantum information processing devices. While these hopes and expectations are not fully realized yet, the effort is going on. As a goodexampleof recentachievements,new resultson quantumdotsconta- ing a single magnetic ion should be mentioned. A great progress has been achieved in studies of excitonic states in such quantum dots, so far limited to InAs/GaAs [3,4] and CdTe/ZnTe [5,6] material systems and to Manganese as the magnetic ion. Furthermore, in the II-VI QDs, rst results on the optical control of the Mn spin states havebeenexperimentallydemonstrated[7-9]andtheoreticallyanalyzed[10]; the studies of Mn spin dynamics and control in III-V QDs will certainly follow.

In Volume 6 of the Advances in Solar Energy we have specifically targeted for a review the rich experience of the Power Utilities. Their hands-on experience in a large variety of means to employ solar energy conversion and to evaluate the technical and economical feasibilities is of great importance to their future use. In designing the lay-out for this volume, we wanted to collect all relevant information, including success and failures and wanted to emphasize the lessons learned from each type of experiment. The publication of such a review now has the advantage of a settled experience in the first phase of solar involvement of the utility industry with a large amount of data analyzed. We are confident that this information will be of great value to direct the future development of the solar energy mix within this industry. We have added to this set of reviews three articles which deal with the most promising high-technology part of solar energy conversion using exclusively solid state devices: solar cells. The development over the last two decades from barely 10% to now in excess of 30% conversion efficiency is breathtaking. In addition, the feasibility of economic midrange efficient thin-film technology holds the promise of opening large sc ale markets in the near future. This field will enter head-on competition for large power generation with more conventional technology.

Multi-chip modules (MCMs) with high wiring density, controlled impedance interconnects, and thermal management capability have recently been developed to address the problems posed by advances in electronic systems that make demands for higher speeds and complexity. MCM-C/Mixed Technologies and Thick Film Sensors highlights recent advances in MCM-C technology. Developments in materials and processes which have led to increased interconnection density are reviewed: finer resolution thick film inks, high performance-low temperature dielectric tapes, precision via generation by both laser and mechanical methods, and enhanced screen printing technologies have given us feature resolution to the 50 mum line/space level. Thermal management has greatly benefitted from such new materials as cofire AIN and diamond. MCM-C technology is compatible with thick film sensors, and work is reviewed on environmental gas sensors, pressure and temperature sensors, and the development of novel materials in this area.

This book is devoted to nonmetal-to-metal transitions. The original ideas of Mott for such a transition in solids have been adapted to describe a broad variety of phenomena in condensed matter physics (solids, liquids, and fluids), in plasma and cluster physics, as well as in nuclear physics (nuclear matter and quark-gluon systems). The book gives a comprehensive overview of theoretical methods and experimental results of the current research on the Mott effect for this wide spectrum of topics. The fundamental problem is the transition from localized to delocalized states which describes the nonmetal-to-metal transition in these diverse systems. Based on the ideas of Mott, Hubbard, Anderson as well as Landau and Zeldovich, internationally respected scientists present the scientific challenges and highlight the enormous progress which has been achieved over the last years. The level of description is aimed to specialists in these fields as well as to young scientists who will get an overview for their own work. A common feature of all contribution is the extensive discussion of bound states," i.e. their formation and dissolution due to medium effects. This applies to atoms and molecules in plasmas, fluids, and small clusters, excitons in semiconductors, or nucleons, deuterons, and alpha-particles in nuclear matter. In this way, the transition from delocalized to localized states and vice versa can be described on a common level."

Lanthanides have fascinated scientists for more than two centuries now, and since efficient separation techniques were established roughly 50 years ago, they have increasingly found their way into industrial exploitation and our everyday lives. Numerous applications are based on their unique luminescent properties, which are highlighted in this volume. It presents established knowledge about the photophysical basics, relevant lanthanide probes or materials, and describes instrumentation-related aspects including chemical and physical sensors. The uses of lanthanides in bioanalysis and medicine are outlined, such as assays for in vitro diagnostics and research. All chapters were compiled by renowned scientists with a broad audience in mind, providing both beginners in the field and advanced researchers with comprehensive information on on the given subject.

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The book describes the design of micro systems systematically as well as the equations needed for an estimation of the basic elements. It can be used without knowing fabrication processes of micro systems and provides the basic equations needed to calculate the effects and forces which are important in micro systems. For quick reference equations are presented in tables which are found in an index at the end of this book.

Polycrystalline Silicon for Integrated Circuits and Displays, Second Edition presents much of the available knowledge about polysilicon. It represents an effort to interrelate the deposition, properties, and applications of polysilicon. By properly understanding the properties of polycrystalline silicon and their relation to the deposition conditions, polysilicon can be designed to ensure optimum device and integrated-circuit performance. Polycrystalline silicon has played an important role in integrated-circuit technology for two decades. It was first used in self-aligned, silicon-gate, MOS ICs to reduce capacitance and improve circuit speed. In addition to this dominant use, polysilicon is now also included in virtually all modern bipolar ICs, where it improves the basic physics of device operation. The compatibility of polycrystalline silicon with subsequent high-temperature processing allows its efficient integration into advanced IC processes. This compatibility also permits polysilicon to be used early in the fabrication process for trench isolation and dynamic random-access-memory (DRAM) storage capacitors. In addition to its integrated-circuit applications, polysilicon is becoming vital as the active layer in the channel of thin-film transistors in place of amorphous silicon. When polysilicon thin-film transistors are used in advanced active-matrix displays, the peripheral circuitry can be integrated into the same substrate as the pixel transistors. Recently, polysilicon has been used in the emerging field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), especially for microsensors and microactuators. In these devices, the mechanical properties, especially the stress in the polysilicon film, are critical to successful device fabrication. Polycrystalline Silicon for Integrated Circuits and Displays, Second Edition is an invaluable reference for professionals and technicians working with polycrystalline silicon in the integrated circuit and display industries.

The MESA Research Institute of the University of Twente was created in 1990 through the joining of the research unit Sensors and Actuators with the department of Microelectronics. The multidisciplinary institute, with participation from the faculties of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Chemical Technology, was recently recognized as a Centre of Excellence by the Dutch Science Foundation. It is fully 2 equipped with modem Clean Room facilities (1000 m ) and a number of research laboratories. The objective of MESA is to perform research and development of systems in modem information technology, and on the units on which they are based: the microstructures that process and transduce signals. The institute gradually expanded during the past few years till some 125 persons in 1994. Given the wide variety of research subjects within MESA, it has been decided to start a MESA Monographs series, appearing on a more or less regular, yearly basis. In this way, after some time a good overview of research topics under investigation at MESA will be obtained. The first volume of this series coincides with the Proceedings of pTAS '94, the first Workshop on Micro Total Analysis Systems, held on November 21-22 at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands. IlTAS has recently been defined as the first strategic research orientation of MESA, aiming at synergetic collaboration between the different disciplines present in MESA.

This survey is concerned with the use of silicon nitride in the semi conductor and microelectronics industries. The Handbook of Electronic Materials, volume 3, comprises part 1 of this survey and includes preparation and properties information. This report was prepared by Hughes Aircraft Company, Culver City, California under Contract Number F336lS-70-C-1348. The work was admini stered under the direction of the Air Force Materials Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with Hr. B. Emrich, Project Engineer. The Electronic Properties Information Center (EPIC) is a designated Information Analysis Center of the Department of Defense, authorized to pro vide information to the entire DoD community. The purpose of the Center is to provide a highly competent source of information and data on the electronic, optical and magnetic properties of materials of value to the Department of Defense. Its major function is to evaluate, compile and publish the experi mental data from the world's unclassified literature concerned with the properties of materials. All materials relevant to the field of electronics are within the scope of EPIC: insulators, semiconductors, metals, super conductors, ferrites, ferroelectrics, ferromagnetics, electroluminescents, thermionic emitters and optical materials. The Center's scope includes information on over 100 basic properties of materials; information generally regarded as being in the area of devices and/or circuitry is excluded. v CONTENTS Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Diffusion Mask Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '" 11 Glass-to-Metal Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Passivation Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Isolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Memory Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Capacitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Radiation Hardening Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."

The role of quantum coherence in promoting the e ciency of the initial stages of photosynthesis is an open and intriguing question. Lee, Cheng, and Fleming, Science 316, 1462 (2007) The understanding and design of functional biomaterials is one of today's grand challenge areas that has sparked an intense exchange between biology, materials sciences, electronics, and various other disciplines. Many new - velopments are underway in organic photovoltaics, molecular electronics, and biomimetic research involving, e. g. , arti cal light-harvesting systems inspired by photosynthesis, along with a host of other concepts and device applications. In fact, materials scientists may well be advised to take advantage of Nature's 3. 8 billion year head-start in designing new materials for light-harvesting and electro-optical applications. Since many of these developments reach into the molecular domain, the - derstanding of nano-structured functional materials equally necessitates f- damental aspects of molecular physics, chemistry, and biology. The elementary energy and charge transfer processes bear much similarity to the molecular phenomena that have been revealed in unprecedented detail by ultrafast op- cal spectroscopies. Indeed, these spectroscopies, which were initially developed and applied for the study of small molecular species, have already evolved into an invaluable tool to monitor ultrafast dynamics in complex biological and materials systems. The molecular-level phenomena in question are often of intrinsically quantum mechanical character, and involve tunneling, non-Born- Oppenheimer e ects, and quantum-mechanical phase coherence.

Since scaling of CMOS is reaching the nanometer area serious limitations enforce the introduction of novel materials, device architectures and device concepts. Multi-gate devices employing high-k gate dielectrics are considered as promising solution overcoming these scaling limitations of conventional planar bulk CMOS. Variation Aware Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design in Emerging Multi-Gate CMOS Technologies provides a technology oriented assessment of analog and mixed-signal circuits in emerging high-k and multi-gate CMOS technologies.

Porous Semiconductors: Optical Properties and Applications provides an examination of porous semiconductor materials. Beginning with a description of the basic electrochemistry of porous semiconductors and the different kinds of porous semiconductor materials that can be fabricated, the book moves on to describe the fabrication processes used in the production of porous semiconductor optical components. Concluding the text, a number of optical components based on porous semiconductor materials are discussed in depth.

Porous Semiconductors: Optical Properties and Applications provides a thorough grounding in the design, fabrication and theory behind the optical applications of porous semiconductor materials for graduate and undergraduate students interested in optics, photonics, MEMS, and material science. The book is also a valuable reference for scientists, researchers, and engineers in the field of optics and materials science.

This book is devoted to the physics of electron-beam, ion-beam, optical, and x-ray lithography. The need for this book results from the following considerations. The astonishing achievements in microelectronics are in large part connected with successfully applying the relatively new technology of processing (changing the prop erties of) a material into a device whose component dimensions are submicron, called photolithography. In this method the device is imaged as a pattern on a metal film that has been deposited onto a transparent substrate and by means of a broad stream of light is transferred to a semiconductor wafer within which the physical structure of the devices and the integrated circuit connections are formed layer by layer. The smallest dimensions of the device components are limited by the diffraction of the light when the pattern is transferred and are approximately the same as the wavelength of the light. Photolithography by light having a wavelength of A ~ 0.4 flm has made it possible to serially produce integrated circuits having devices whose minimal size is 2-3 flm in the 4 pattern and having 10-105 transistors per circuit.

Ion beams have been used for decades for characterizing and analyzing materials. Now energetic ion beams are providing ways to modify the materials in unprecedented ways. This book highlights the emergence of high-energy swift heavy ions as a tool for tailoring the properties of materials with nanoscale structures. Swift heavy ions interact with materials by exciting/ionizing electrons without directly moving the atoms. This opens a new horizon towards the 'so-called' soft engineering. The book discusses the ion beam technology emerging from the non-equilibrium conditions and emphasizes the power of controlled irradiation to tailor the properties of various types of materials for specific needs.

The seventh Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Techniques and Concepts of High Energy Physics was held for the second time at the Club St. Croix, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The ASI brought together a total of 75 participants, from 19 countries. The primary support for the meeting was again provided by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO. The ASI was cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, by Fermilab, by the National Science Foundation, and by the University of Rochester. A special contribution from the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust provided an important degree of flexibility, as well as support for worthy students from developing countries. As in the case of the previous ASIs, the scientific program was designed for advanced graduate students and recent PhD recipients in experimental particle physics. The present volume of lectures should complement the material published in the first six ASIs, and prove to be of value to a wider audience of physicists.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Growth and Optical Properties of Wide Gap II-VI Low Dimensional Semiconductors," held from 2 - 6 August 1988 in Regensburg, Federal Republic of Germany, under the auspices of the NATO International Scientific Exchange Programme. Semiconducting compounds formed by combining an element from column II of the periodic table with an element from column VI (so called II-VI Semiconductors) have long promised many optoelectronic devices operating in the visible region of the spectrum. However, these materials have encountered numerous problems including: large number of defects and difficulties in obtaining p- and n-type doping. Advances in new methods of material preparation may hold the key to unlocking the unfulfilled promises. During the workshop a full session was taken up covering the prospects for wide-gap II-VI Semiconductor devices, particularly light emitting ones. The growth of bulk materials was reviewed with the view of considering II-VI substrates for the novel epitaxial techniques such as MOCVD, MBE, ALE, MOMBE and ALE-MBE. The controlled introduction of impurities during non-equilibrium growth to provide control of the doping type and conductivity was emphasized.

This textbook sets out to enable readers to understand fundamental aspects underlying quantum macroscopic phenomena in solids, primarily through the modern experimental techniques and results. The classic independent-electrons approach for describing the electronic structure in terms of energy bands helps explain the occurrence of metals, insulators and semiconductors.It is underlined thatsuperconductivity and magnetism can only be understood by taking into account the interactions between electrons. The text recounts the experimental observations that have revealed the main properties of the superconductors and were essential to track its physical origin. While fundamental concepts are underlined, those which are required to describe the high technology applications, present or future, are emphasized as well. Problem sets involve experimental approaches and tools which support a practical understanding of the materials and their behaviour.

The Physical Electronics Department of SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) has been pioneering the development of devices fabricated to submicron tolerances for well over 20 years. In 1961, a landmark paper on electron-beam lithography and its associated technologies was published by K. R. Shoulderst (then at SRI), which set the stage for our subsequent efforts in this field. He had the foresight to believe that the building of such small devices was actually within the range of human capabilities. As a result of this initial momentum, our experience in the technologies associated with microfabrication has become remarkably comprehensive, despite the relatively small size of our research activity. We have frequently been asked to deliver seminars or provide reviews on various aspects of micro fabrication. These activities made us aware of the need for a comprehensive overview of the physics of microfabrication. We hope that this book will fill that need."

Superlattices and Other Heterostructures deals with optical properties of superlattices and quantum-well structures with emphasis on phenomena governed by crystal symmetries. After a brief introduction to group theory and symmetries, methods to calculate spectra of electrons, excitions and phonons in heterostructures are discussed. Further chapters cover absorption and reflection of light under interband transitions, cyclotron and electron spin-resoncance, light scattering by free and bound carriers and by optical and acoustic phonons, polarized photoluminescence, optical spin orientation of electrons and excitions, and nonlinear optical and photogalvanic effects.

Wo Licht ist, ist auch Schatten! ("More light, more shadow!" or simpler: "Nothing is perfect") -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from Got .. z von Berlichingen, Act I There exist already about ten books (e. g. [1-8]) - not counting the many conf- enceproceedingsvolumes- onthe differentaspectsofSi-basedphotonicsincluding also the issue of silicon-basedlight emission. Why is now anotherone neededabout this subject, and even more, exclusively about a special type of light emitters? This book summarizes all aspects of the development of rare earth (RE) c- taining MOS devices fabricated by ion implantation as the key technology and critically re ects the related referencesthroughoutthe different chapters. This work was mainly done in the course of the last 10 years. Preliminary work for this goal, undertaken mostly in the nineties, was based on the introduction of group IV e- ments (Si, Ge, Sn) into the thermally grown silicon dioxide leading to the highest power ef ciency values in the blue-violet wavelength range. This success inspired us to use the REs as means of exploring other wavelength ranges with the same or even higher power ef ciencies. After an historical introduction of the REs and silicon-based light emission, Chap. 1 presents a review of electroluminescence from MOS-type light emitters, based on silicon and its technology. The achievement of an optimized material for electrically driven light emission, that is, ef cient emission with reasonable reliability, is only possible with a deep knowledge of the materials properties det- miningtheelectro-optical(orphotonic)properties(seeChap. 2).

Avarietyof?uorescentandluminescentmaterialsintheformofmolecules,their complexes,andnanoparticlesareavailableforimplementationasreportingunits intosensingtechnologies. Increasingdemandsfromtheseapplicationareasrequire developmentofnew?uorescencereportersbasedonassociationandaggregationof ?uorescencedyesandontheirincorporationintodifferentnanostructures. Inter- tionsbetweenthesedyesandtheirincorporatingmatricesleadtonewspectroscopic effectsthatcanbeactivelyusedforoptimizingthesensordesign. Oneofthese effects is a spectacular formation of J-aggregates with distinct and very sharp excitationandemissionbands. Byincorporationintonanoparticles,organicdyes offer dramatically increased brightness together with improvement of chemical stabilityandphotostability. Moreover,certaindyescanformnanoparticlesth- selvessothattheirspectroscopicpropertiesareimproved. Semiconductorquantum dotsaretheothertypeofnanoparticles thatpossessuniqueandveryattractive photophysicalandspectroscopicproperties. Manyinterestingandnotfullyund- stoodphenomenaareobservedinclusterscomposedofonlyseveralatomsofnoble metals. Inconjugatedpolymers,strongelectronicconjugationbetweenelementary chromophoricunitsresultsindramaticeffectsinquenchingandinconformati- dependentspectroscopicbehavior. Possessingsuchpowerfulanddiversearsenaloftools,wehavetoexplorethem innovelsensingandimagingtechnologiesthatcombineincreasedbrightnessand sensitivityinanalytedetectionwithsimplicityandlowcostofproduction. The present book overviews the pathways for achieving this goal. In line with the discussion on monomeric ?uorescence reporters in the accompanying book (Vol. 8ofthisseries),aninsightfulanalysisofphotophysicalmechanismsbehind the ?uorescence response of composed and nanostructured materials is made. Based on the progress in understanding these mechanisms, their realization in differentchemicalstructuresisoverviewed. vii viii Preface Demonstratingtheprogressinaninterdisciplinary?eldofresearchanddev- opment,thisbookisprimarilyaddressedtospecialistswithdifferentbackground- physicists, organic and analytical chemists, and photochemists - to those who developandapplynew?uorescencereporters. Itwillalsobeusefultospecialists inbioanalysisandbiomedicaldiagnostics. Kyiv,Ukraine AlexanderP. Demchenko June2010 Contents PartI GeneralAspects NanocrystalsandNanoparticlesVersusMolecularFluorescent LabelsasReportersforBioanalysisandtheLifeSciences: ACriticalComparison ...3 UteResch-Genger,MarkusGrabolle,RolandNitschke, andThomasNann OptimizationoftheCouplingofTargetRecognition andSignalGeneration ...41 AnaB. Descalzo,ShengchaoZhu,TobiasFischer,andKnutRurack CollectiveEffectsIn?uencingFluorescenceEmission ...107 AlexanderP. Demchenko PartII EncapsulatedDyesandSupramolecularConstructions FluorescentJ-AggregatesandTheirBiologicalApplications ...135 MykhayloYu. LosytskyyandValeriyM. Yashchuk Conjugates,Complexes,andInterlockedSystems BasedonSquarainesandCyanines ...159 LeonidD. Patsenker,AnatoliyL. Tatarets,OleksiiP. Klochko, andEwaldA. Terpetschnig PartIII Dye-DopedNanoparticlesandDendrimers Dye-DopedPolymericParticlesforSensingandImaging ...193 SergeyM. Borisov,TorstenMayr,Gu..nterMistlberger,andIngoKlimant ix x Contents Silica-BasedNanoparticles:DesignandProperties ...229 SongLiang,CarrieL. John,ShupingXu,JiaoChen,YuhuiJin, QuanYuan,WeihongTan,andJuliaX. Zhao LuminescentDendrimersasLigandsandSensors ofMetalIons ...2 53 GiacomoBergamini,EnricoMarchi,andPaolaCeroni ProspectsforOrganicDyeNanoparticles ...285 HiroshiYao PartIV LuminescentMetalNanoclusters Few-AtomSilverClustersasFluorescentReporters ...307 IsabelD?'ezandRobinH. A. Ras LuminescentQuantumClustersofGoldasBio-Labels ...333 M. A. HabeebMuhammedandT. Pradeep PartV ConjugatedPolymers Structure,EmissiveProperties,andReportingAbilities ofConjugatedPolymers ...357 MaryA. Reppy OpticalReportingbyConjugatedPolymers viaConformationalChanges ...389 RozalynA. SimonandK. PeterR. Nilsson FluorescenceReportingBasedonFRETBetweenConjugated PolyelectrolyteandOrganicDyeforBiosensorApplications ...417 Kan-YiPuandBinLiu Index ...455 PartI GeneralAspects NanocrystalsandNanoparticlesVersus MolecularFluorescentLabelsasReporters forBioanalysisandtheLifeSciences: ACriticalComparison UteResch-Genger,MarkusGrabolle,RolandNitschke,andThomasNann Abstract At the core of photoluminescence techniques are suitable ?uorescent labels and reporters, the spectroscopic properties of which control the limit of detection,thedynamicrange,andthepotentialformultiplexing.

This publication presents the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Computer Modelling of Electronic and Atomic Processes in Solids. This ARW was held at Szklarska Poreba, Wroclaw, Poland from May 20 -23, 1996, and brought together scientists from Canada, England, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, United States, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The NATO Advanced Research Workshops program is designed to increase collaboration and exchange of knowledge between the Eastern and Western scientific communities. This particular NATO ARW has already succeeded in that effort, and has spawned collaboration agreements and programs. One joint project in space materials has led to the launch of an experiment to the Russian MIR space station. This NATO ARW was also fortunate to be held concurrently with a workshop of the Wroclaw Technical University, in the same location, which focused on glass materials, thus providing for a larger scientific audience for a number of presentations of both groups. The primary emphasis of this ARW was on computer models, ranging from fundamental atomic, molecular and electronic structures and processes, through to macroscopic descriptions of materials in terms of their structure and properties. Various elements discussed in these proceedings include environmental effects, predictions of properties, correlations with experiments and material performance parameters. Applications to space and electronics were emphasized.

Optoelectronic devices operating in the mid-infrared wavelength range offer applications in a variety of areas from environmental gas monitoring around oil rigs to the detection of narcotics. They could also be used for free-space optical communications, thermal imaging applications and the development of "homeland security" measures.

Mid-infrared Semiconductor Optoelectronics is an overview of the current status and technological development in this rapidly emerging area; the basic physics, some of the problems facing the design engineer and a comparison of possible solutions are laid out; the different lasers used as sources for mid-infrared technology are considered; recent work in detectors is reviewed; the last part of the book is concerned with applications.

With a world-wide authorship of experts working in many mid-infrared-related fields this book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and graduate students drawn from physics, electronic and electrical engineering and materials science.

The increasing application of integrated circuits in situations where high reliability is needed places a requirement on the manufacturer to use methods of testing to eliminate devices that may fail on service. One possible approach that is described in this book is to make precise electrical measurements that may reveal those devices more likely to fail. The measurements assessed are of analog circuit parameters which, based on a knowledge of failure mechanisms, may indicate a future failure. . To incorporate these tests into the functional listing of very large scale integrated circuits consideration has to be given to the sensitivity of the tests where small numbers of devices may be defective in a complex circuit. In addition the tests ideally should require minimal extra test time. A range of tests has been evaluated and compared with simulation used to assess the sensitivity of the measurements. Other work in the field is fully referenced at the end of each chapter. The team at Lancaster responsible for this book wish to thank the Alvey directorate and SERe for the necessary support and encouragement to publish our results. We would also like to thank John Henderson, recently retired from the British Telecom Research Laboratories, for his cheerful and enthusiastic encouragement. Trevor Ingham, now in New Zealand, is thanked for his early work on the project.