The Physics of Semiconductors: An Introduction Including Devices and Nanophysics , Marius Grundmann , Springer, New York, 2006. $89.95 (689 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-25370-9
Marius Grundmann undertook a sweeping project when he set out to write a book that would include all of the physics of semiconductors and semiconductor devices and briefly cover nano structures. He begins The Physics of Semi conductors: An Introduction Including Devices and Nanophysics at a very basic level with bonds and moves on to discuss crystals, defects, phonons, and band structure. He then deals with doping, transport, optical properties, and recombination, heterostructures, dielectric structures, diodes, the conversion of light to electricity and electricity to light, and ends with transistors. The task was monumental, and culminated with 21 chapters, 587 figures, 36 tables, and 734 references.
The strength of The Physics of Semi conductors may be its breadth, but that is also its greatest weakness. A single book, even one that is nearly 700 pages long, cannot possibly cover such a broad set of topics with sufficient depth to satisfy a reader who is interested in learning. For instance, chapter 16 on organic semiconductors has facts and 10 figures but not much of a story that would make it accessible or worth returning to.
In his classic Physics of Semiconductor Devices (Wiley Interscience, 1969), Simon M. Sze aptly began at a higher level. He assumed that the reader would have a working knowledge of solid state physics, and he produced a book that should always be close at hand. But who is the intended reader for Grundmann s book? That question could have been answered in a foreword. The title and discussions on elementary bonds and crystal lattices suggest that Grundmann intends the book to be accessible and instructional for beginners. Unfortunately, the bare bones presented in the various chapters make the text difficult to read for one who does not have a suitable background.
For example, consider chapter 6 on band structure, which begins with an introductory paragraph lacking a coherent theme. Next are sections on Bloch s theorem, free electron dispersion, and vector Gs of the reciprocal lattice. After a very brief detour through the Kronig Penney model and electrons in a periodic potential, the reader reaches a section on band structures of selected semiconductors.
What follows are 18 band structures for semiconductors from silicon and germanium through the lead salts, and for the chalcopyrites, the delafossites, and the perovskites. Each structure is accompanied by a figure caption and brief text. For example, we read that GaP is an in direct compound semiconductor. The conduction band minima are along the <100> directions. A student who had read the chapter from the beginning would not have been prepared to make sense of or benefit from the linguini diagrams in that section.
I read chapter 9 on optical properties of semiconductors with interest because the early part of my career focused on such properties. It was fun to be reacquainted with Fermi s golden rule and with dipole transition matrix elements. Yet I was annoyed trying to sort out Figure 9.4 for the matrix elements formed along the high symmetry directions of wurtzite gallium nitride because of the confusing caption: The transitions are A: Γ9(A)—Γ7c, B: Γ7(B)—Γ7c, C: Γ7(C)—Γ7c (cf. Fig. 6.27). First, GaN bands were presented in Figure 6.7, not 6.27; to choose the figure presenting the wurtzite structure, readers would need to note that the photons were polarized relative to the c axis. Second, no such symmetry labels are given for the states at Γ in Figure 6.7 one would have to take a quick look at reference 276 to realize that relativistic effects had been taken into account and thus changed the symmetry designations. Third, the meanings of (A), (B), and (C) are not made clear. The reader again has to turn to the indicated reference, which explains that the letters correspond to the first three valence bands. But no band structures are included in that reference, so one cannot see the valence bands. At that point, I gave up.
Other aspects of style get in the way of the presentation. Grundmann s constant use of i.e. and parenthetical clauses breaks the flow of the text. Also, many of the reproduced figures are impossible to read without a magnifying glass. The author does not develop many of the ideas and discussions, and the typesetting, figures, and equations contain more errors than one would hope to find.
On a positive note, the book s many references are helpful. However, The Physics of Semiconductors would have profited from a better story line. In its current form, it is not particularly reader friendly. Sadly, the book suffers from trying to be both an introductory text and a compilation of advanced in formation that relies on figures from the current literature.
