Semiconductor Optics and Transport Phenomena

Abstract

This new textbook would suit a postgraduate or diploma student specializing in semiconductor physics as self-contained reading material. It may be particularly useful for those who are interested in theoretical aspects of this subject. The selection of topics ranges from the elementary introduction to the band structure of III-V semiconductors, the single-particle description of optical transition and Vanier excitons to the elements of semiconductor lasers and superlattices. The chapter on biexcitons is a unique and very attractive feature of this text: biexcitons are rarely mentioned in semiconductor physics courses and, here, this topic is introduced by the renowned expert. In fact, all chapters dedicated to optics are superb and, if used in combination with the Fundamentals of Semiconductors by P Y Yu and M Cardona (Springer, 2001), it may provide solid foundations in fundamental aspects of semiconductor optics. The semiconductor transport part of this book does not go into the same depth of the subject, though it pays tribute to the mesoscale physics and quantum Hall effect and introduces the reader to the Landauer-B�ttiker approach to the description of quantum transport. Throughout the book, the authors keep to a rigorous and systematic way of presenting the material. This might be too formal to generate any excitement but will be appreciated by a postgraduate willing to learn about popular analytical techniques, such as the use of non-equilibrium Green functions. V I Falko