Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Material 2nd ed

Book Preface

After several years in use, this second edition of the Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials is brought out to update the coverage and include new topics. Like the first edition, it represents a comprehensive treatise on electronic and photonic materials, with each chapter written by experts in the field. It is aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and practicing professionals working in the area of electronic, optoelectronic, and photonic materials.

The idea for the first edition of this volume grew out of the need for a reference work that covers the wide spectrum of topics in materials that today’s electrical engineers, material scientists, and physicists need. Electronic and photonic materials is a truly interdisciplinary subject that encompasses a number of traditional disciplines such as materials science, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and chemistry. It is not unusual to find a mechanical engineering faculty carrying out research on electronic packaging, and electrical engineers carrying out characterization measurements on semiconductors.

There are only a few established university departments specializing in electronic or photonic materials. In general, electronic materials as a discipline appears as a research group or as an interdisciplinary activity within a college or faculty. One could argue that, because of the very fact that it is such an interdisciplinary field, there is a greater need to have a handbook that covers not only fundamental topics but also advanced topics; hence the present Handbook.

The chapters in this second edition of the Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials provide the necessary background and up-to-date knowledge in a wide range of topics. Each chapter has an introduction to the topic, many clear illustrations, and numerous references. Clear explanations and illustrations make the handbook useful for all levels of research. All chapters are as self-contained as possible.

There are both fundamental and advanced chapters that will appeal to readers with different backgrounds. This is particularly important for this Handbook since the subject matter is highly interdisciplinary. For example, there will be readers with a background (first degree) in chemical engineering working on semiconductor processing and who need to learn the fundamentals of semiconductor physics. Someone with a first degree in physics would need to quickly update himself on materials science concepts such as liquid phase epitaxy and so on. Difficult mathematics has been avoided and, whenever possible, the explanations have been given semiquantitatively. There is a Glossary of Defining Terms at the end of the Handbook, which is a particularly useful feature in an interdisciplinary handbook. As indicated before, the second edition is a major revision of the first one. Some chapters of the first edition have been left out and many chapters have gone through major revisions. Quite a few new chapters have been added: Photoconductivity in Materials Research; Temperature-Insensitive Band-Gap III-V Semiconductors: Tl-III-V and III-V-Bi; Graphene; Organic Solar Cells; Materials for Terahertz Engineering; Metamaterials; Thermoelectric Materials; Transparent Conductive Oxides; and Inorganic Perovskite Oxides.

The editors are very grateful to all the authors for their excellent contributions and for their cooperation in delivering their manuscripts in the various stages of the production of this Handbook. Sincere thanks go to Judith Hinterberg for all her support and help throughout the long period of commissioning the contributions and for getting them ready for production. Ursula Barth and Constanze Ober have very skilfully handled the myriad issues involved in getting the Handbook ready for production, copy-editing, figure redrawing, proof preparation and correction, and our sincere thanks go to them also for all their dedicated work in making the Handbook attractive to read.

It is a pleasure to thank Professor Arthur Willoughby for his many helpful suggestions that have made this a better Handbook. His wealth of experience as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics played an important role not only in selecting chapters but also in finding the right authors.

Finally, the Editors wish to thank all the members of their families (Nicolette (SK) and Marian, Samuel and Thomas (PC)) for their support and particularly for their endurance during the entire project.

Safa Kasap Saskatoon, Canada
Peter Capper Southampton, UK