Gettering and Defect Engineering in Semiconductor Technology (GADEST 2021)

Abstract

The international conference GADEST – Gettering and defect engineering in semiconductor technology – is one of the primary conferences on fundamental aspects and technological challenges associated with synthesis, crystal growth and defects in electronic materials, as well as devices ranging from microelectronics to silicon photonics and photovoltaics. First established in 1985 by Prof. Hans Richter, the GADEST conference has served as a fruitful platform, interlacing the state-of-the-art academic research and industrial processes. Indeed, it is a particular conference's strong point that people from academia and industry come together to intensively discuss and exchange experiences and views in a casual place, having the possibilities for lively discussion from breakfast to dinner and beyond. The 19th edition of the GADEST was originally planned for September 11th to 17th 2021 in the town of Mondsee in Austria. However, because the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 pandemic did not allow for a regular in-person conference due the resulting international travel restrictions, the actual GADEST conference was shifted to September 2022 in the same place in Austria. Despite this change of conference schedule, more than 20 manuscripts submitted for GADEST 2021 were accepted as articles in this special issue of Physics Status Solidi (a). These give an excellent overview of the broad spectrum of the GADEST topics, from defects and defect-complexes in Si and other group-IV materials, solar cells, high-power devices, advanced passivation techniques, and high-mobility systems to defects and impurities in wafer material, and we hope that the readers will enjoy and appreciate it. We gratefully acknowledge all authors' and reviewers' efforts for realizing this special issue and great support of the editors and staff of Physica Status Solidi (a) during the editorial process. Their work made it possible to obtain this special issue, despite the shift of the GADEST conference to 2022. Last but not least, we are looking forward to a successful GADEST conference in September 2022 in Mondsee, Austria. Moritz Brehm and Gunther Springholz