CHEMPHYSCHEM 2003, 4, 891 ± 894 www.chemphyschem.org ¹ 2003 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH&Co. KGaA, Weinheim 893

but all chapters in this book will provide awide range of researchers with new ideasto try in the lab as well as a better generalunderstanding of multilayer thin films.

Wilhelm HuckDepartment of ChemistryCambrigdge University (UK)

The Complete Guide toSemiconductor Devices (2ndedition)by Kwok K. Ng

John Wiley & Sons, 2002. 740 pp., hardcover�119.00.–ISBN 0-471-20240-1

Described as `A definitive and up-to-datehandbook of semiconductor devices', thissecond edition up-dates the previousversion by includ-ing new chapterson new devicessuch as the single-electron transistorand bistable opticaldevices. The textis generically ar-ranged to enablequick access to aparticular device.Although a brief history is given at thebeginning of each chapter (all 74 of them)this is in most cases redundant. Conse-quently, the chapters arrive in a staccatofashion, which distinguishes this bookfrom other texts that address similarmaterial, for example, the excellent bookby Sze, where a theoretical thread linksthe information. This is the main criticismof this type of book, which can befrustrating as well as useful.

The text gives a description of almostevery type of semiconductor device one islikely to encounter and as such it is auseful `dictionary', enabling the reader torapidly gain some understanding of thefunction of the device and its relation tosimilar devices. The schematic diagramsthat accompany each device are crucial toan understanding of its operation and willalso be useful to lecturers teaching phys-ics and electrical engineering courses.Equations are stated and not derived

and this has the merit of providing themost important information in the short-est time. For some readers this informa-tion may be sufficient and such a text mayhappily reside on a bookshelf for longperiods. This is not a text for the science orengineering student who wants a deeperunderstanding of a particular device.

Although the scope of the book pur-ports to be comprehensive there is a lackof balance to the coverage, which prob-ably reflects the bias of the authortowards switching and power devices.Less than a quarter of the text is devotedto optoelectronic devices, despite theimportance of this class of device inmodern communications. As a conse-quence these devices are treated in amore superficial manner. As an example Ichose to look at Quantum Dot (QD)emitters and detectors, which might pro-vide a good test of the inclusion in thebook of new material and justify a newedition. The QD light-emitting diode isdealt with in chapter 52 (see figure 52.11),where it is claimed that these deviceshave high quantum efficiency and anarrow emission spectrum. Whilst theformer is debatable the latter is certainlynot true due to the presence of excited-state emission. The following chapterintroduces the reader to semiconductorlasers and includes a section on the QDlaser. Figure 53.17 (which is exactly thesame diagram as 52.11 used to describethe light-emitting diode) has no cavityand will not operate as a laser. The textthat accompanies the diagram explainsthat temperature broadening of the gainspectrum does not occur if the energydifference between sublevels is less thankT. This is incorrect and the sublevelspacing must be greater than kT if tem-perature broadening is to be avoided. Thequantum-dot photodetector is allocated acomplete chapter but the book fails toexplain the fundamental differences be-tween this and the quantum-well version.The reader is guided to appendix B11 formore information on quantum dots, butthe information is inadequate given thematurity of the subject matter and theavailability of several books on this topic.

Appendix B provides a useful (if brief)coverage of some of the physical phe-nomena that underpin an understandingof the devices, while appendix E provides

a very useful listing of the acronymsdeemed necessary to describe any devicethese days!

The acid test of the quality of anacademic book is whether you wouldchoose to buy it or recommend the libraryof your institution to buy it. On balance Iconsider this to be a useful text and onethat should be available in a well-stockedlibrary, although I would be reluctant topay for a personal copy.

Ray MurrayCentre for Electronic Materials & DevicesImperial College London (United King-dom)

Handbook of Porous Solids,Vols. I ± V.

Editors : Ferdi Sch¸th, Kenneth S. W. Sing and JensWeitkamp. Wiley-VCH 2002. 3141 pp. Hardcover�1199.00.–ISBN 3-527-30246-8

Porous materials are ubiquitous. Theywere already used by early humans intheir natural form;they became stra-tegic materials overthe centuries which,according to cer-tain sources, repre-sent now, directlyor indirectly, 20%of the gross domes-tic product of in-dustrial countries.Surprisingly, despite the large number ofjournals, books, and international confer-ences devoted to this topics, there was notextbook encompassing the different fac-ets of this domain. The present series fillsthis gap.

The editors of this five-volume work ofmore than 3000 pages are themselveshighly recognized scientists in this area.They invited 115 well-known authors tocontribute to a comprehensive overviewof the current situation. The correspond-ing articles cover all the aspects–eventhe more recent–of characterization,synthesis, behavior, and application ofthe most important classes of poroussolids, with a balanced account of theircharacteristic features and their roles in