This collection of 86 peer-reviewed papers covers all aspects of the use of ultra-clean technology for large-scale integration on semiconductors, and cleaning and contamination-control in both front-end-of-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-line (BEOL) processing.

The oxidation of metals is, by definition, a reaction between a gas and a solid which usually produces a solid reaction product. At first glance, this would therefore seem to be a very simple process but, in fact, it is considerably more complex. One would like to think that the reaction product, i.e., the scale that forms on the metal, acts as a physical barrier between the reactants, and that the reaction should thus cease once the barrier is established. We know that this is unfortunately not the case, because transport of matter through the scale allows the reaction to continue. We also know that, because of density-differences between the metal and its oxide, the scale may not be sufficiently complete in coverage or may not adhere to the substrate because of cracking, spalling and detachment (wrinkling). In some extreme cases, the scale may even be a liquid which simply drips from the surface, or it may volatilize at operational temperatures. The reaction between a gas and a metal is truly very complicated.

This book consists of a collection of 74 original peer-reviewed papers. They cover a wide range of topics in the interesting field of nano-structure related semiconductor photonics; a field which encompasses quantum dots, quantum wire, nano-wire, nano-rods, nano-crystals, photonic crystals, ZnO-based materials, III-V compound semiconductors, Si photonics and organic optoelectronic devices.

This ninth volume in the series covering the latest results in the field includes abstracts of papers which appeared between the publication of Annual Retrospective VIII (Volumes 245-246) and the end of January 2007 (journal availability permitting).

Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Diamond are examples of wide-bandgap semiconductors having chemical, electrical and optical properties which make them very attractive for the fabrication of high-power and high-frequency electronic devices, as well as light-emitters and sensors which have to operate under harsh conditions.

Japan is currently the most active country of all of those carrying out research in the rapidly expanding field of Electroceramics; a field that has tremendous implications for a wide range of high-tech applications.

The world of today must face up to two contradictory energy problems: on the one hand, there is the sharply growing consumer demand in countries such as China and India. On the other hand, natural resources are dwindling. Moreover, many of those countries which still possess substantial gas and oil supplies are politically unstable. As a result, renewable natural energy sources have received great attention. Among these, solar-cell technology is one of the most promising candidates. However, there still remains the problem of the manufacturing costs of such cells. Many attempts have been made to reduce the production costs of “conventional” solar cells (manufactured from monocrystalline silicon using diffusion methods) by instead using cheaper grades of silicon, and simpler pn-junction fabrication. That is the ‘hero’ of this book; the heterojunction solar cell.

Materials science and engineering is a multidisciplinary area of research which encompasses the physics, chemistry and engineering of every class of material. In recent years, the field has attracted increasing attention, following the discovery of new types of material and their subsequent application in new technologies.

This book consists of a compilation of the papers presented at the Asian International Conference on Advanced Materials (AICAM 2005), which was held in Beijing, China, from November 3rd to 5th, 2005.

The use of light to channel signals around electronic chips could solve several current problems in microelectronic evolution including: power dissipation, interconnect bottlenecks, input/output from/to optical communication channels, poor signal bandwidth, etc. It is unfortunate that silicon is not a good photonic material: it has a poor light-emission efficiency and exhibits a negligible electro-optical effect. Silicon photonics is a field having the objective of improving the physical properties of silicon; thus turning it into a photonic material and permitting the full convergence of electronics and photonics.