Solid State Electronics : Towards the 21st Century

This book presents the fundamentals, current status and prospective development of semiconductor electronics, including materials, discrete devices, integrated circuits, multilayer structure and heterogeneous composites.

The reason for the replacement of vacuum-tube devices by solid state ones by the middle of the 20th century are analyzed.

The authors also document the main landmarks of development from the discovery of physical effects, such as unipolar conductivity, photo-effect and Zeebeck effect, to the invention of transistors, and from transistors to devices of functional electronics.

The physics of electron conductivity, optical and photoelectric phenomena in semiconductors, the role of impurities and defects in the formation of properties of semiconductors, and the principles of the technology for their purifying and doping are described.

Emphasis is put on ideas for the creation of new semiconductor materials, structures and technologies.

This book should be of use to students and researchers who seek an overview of the rapid advances in solid-state electronics.