This book originates from lectures delivered at the First International School "Laser-surface interactions for new materials production: tailoring structure and properties" that was held in San Servolo Island, Venice (Italy) from 13 to 20 July, 2008 under the direction of A. Miotello and P. M. Ossi. The purpose of the School was to provide the students (mainly PhD) with a compreh- sive overview of basic aspects and applications connected to the laser-matter interaction both to modify surface properties and to prepare new materials by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at the nanometer scale. The ?eld is re- tively young and grewrapidly in the last 10 years because of the possibility of depositingvirtuallyanymaterial,includingmulti-component?lms,preserving the composition of the ablated target and generally avoiding post-deposition thermaltreatments. Inaddition,theexperimentalsetupforPLDiscompatible with in situ diagnostics of both the plasma and the growing ?lm. The basic laser-surface interaction mechanisms, possibly in an ambient atmosphere, either chemically reactive or inert, are a challenge to sci- tists, while engineers are mostly interested in the characteristics of the deposited materials and the possibility of tailoring their properties through an appropriate tuning of the deposition parameters.

The teaching of solid state physics essentially concerns focusing on crystals and their properties. We study crystals and their properties because of the simple and elegant results obtained from the analysis of a spatially periodic system; this is why the analysis can be made considering a small set of atoms that represent the whole system of many particles. In contrast to the formal neat approach to crystals, the study of str- turally disordered condensed systems is somewhat complicated and often leads to relatively imprecise results, not to mention the experimental and computational e?ort involved. As such, almost all university textbooks, - cluding the advanced course books, only brie?y touch on the physics of am- phous systems. In any case, both the fundamental aspect and the ever wider industrial applications have given structurally disordered matter a role that should not be overlooked. The study of amorphous solids and their structure, stability and properties is a vibrant research branch; it is di?cult to imagine how any physicist, chemist or engineer who has to deal with materials could possibly ignore this class of systems. The author of Disordered Matter - an Introduction uses this course book atthePolitecnicoinMilan,Italy.Collectingthematerialforthecourseproved no mean task, leading him to have to prepare ad hoc didactic material. The continualexchangebetweenteacherandstudenthasledtothepresentversion of the book.

This book originates from lectures delivered at the First International School "Laser-surface interactions for new materials production: tailoring structure and properties" that was held in San Servolo Island, Venice (Italy) from 13 to 20 July, 2008 under the direction of A. Miotello and P. M. Ossi. The purpose of the School was to provide the students (mainly PhD) with a compreh- sive overview of basic aspects and applications connected to the laser-matter interaction both to modify surface properties and to prepare new materials by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at the nanometer scale. The ?eld is re- tively young and grewrapidly in the last 10 years because of the possibility of depositingvirtuallyanymaterial,includingmulti-component?lms,preserving the composition of the ablated target and generally avoiding post-deposition thermaltreatments. Inaddition,theexperimentalsetupforPLDiscompatible with in situ diagnostics of both the plasma and the growing ?lm. The basic laser-surface interaction mechanisms, possibly in an ambient atmosphere, either chemically reactive or inert, are a challenge to sci- tists, while engineers are mostly interested in the characteristics of the deposited materials and the possibility of tailoring their properties through an appropriate tuning of the deposition parameters.