The Physics of Semiconductors

Semiconductorelectronicsiscommonplaceineveryhousehold.Semiconductor deviceshavealsoenabledeconomicallyreasonable?ber-basedopticalcom- nication, optical storage and high-frequency ampli?cation and have recently revolutionizedphotography,displaytechnologyandlighting.Alongwiththese tremendous technological developments, semiconductors have changed the way we work, communicate, entertain and think. The technological progress of semiconductor materials and devices is evolving continuously with a large worldwide e?ort in human and monetary capital. For students, semicond- tors o?er a rich, diverse and exciting ?eld with a great tradition and a bright future. This book introduces students to semiconductor physics and semicond- tor devices. It brings them to the point where they can specialize and enter supervisedlaboratoryresearch.Itisbasedonthetwosemestersemiconductor physics course taught at Universit¨ at Leipzig in its Master of Science physics curriculum. Since the book can be followed with little or no pre-existing knowledge in solid-state physics and quantum mechanics, it is also suitable for undergraduate students. For the interested reader some additional topics are included in the book that can be covered in subsequent, more speci- ized courses. The material is selected to provide a balance between aspects of solid-state and semiconductor physics, the concepts of various semiconductor devices and modern applications in electronics and photonics.