From quantum mechanical concepts to practical circuit applications, this book presents a self-contained and up-to-date account of the physics and technology of nanowire semiconductor devices. It includes a unified account of the critical ideas central to low-dimensional physics and transistor physics which equips readers with a common framework and language to accelerate scientific and technological developments across the two fields. Detailed descriptions of novel quantum mechanical effects such as quantum current oscillations, the metal-to-semiconductor transition and the transition from classical transistor to single-electron transistor operation are described in detail, in addition to real-world applications in the fields of nanoelectronics, biomedical sensing techniques, and advanced semiconductor research. Including numerous illustrations to help readers understand these phenomena, this is an essential resource for researchers and professional engineers working on semiconductor devices and materials in academia and industry.

In this text, specialists in silicon-on-insulator technology from both East and West meet, giving the reader the chance to become acquainted with work from the former Soviet Union, hitherto only available in Russian and barely available to western scientists. Keynote lectures and state-of-the-art presentations give a wide-ranging panorama of the challenges posed by SOI materials and devices, material fabrication techniques, characterization, device and circuit issues.