The EDS2002 (Extended Defects in Semiconductors) Conference,
being entirely in the frame of the earlier EDS Conferences,
presented many novel elements which resulted both in an
enlarged attendance and in some
very vivid discussions throughout the
six days of the Conference.
The major element of novelty was to address, with a greater
emphasis than in the past, the interest of our community in
extended defects in wide band gap semiconductors. Here, a
deeper knowledge of the structural and electronic properties of
extended defects is, in fact, a key factor in order to
substantially improve the use of wide gap semiconductors in
advanced technological applications.
For this reason, a specific workshop, financially supported by
the `NATO Science Programme, Cooperative Science and Technology
Sub-Programme, Advanced Research Workshop', was held during the first
three days of the Conference, where not only fundamental issues
were debated, but also specific device-related problems, such as
the case of carrier mobility and recombination in quantum
structures, and problems related to growth and grown-in defects
in SiC and GaN.
The tradition of the EDS Conferences has been, nonetheless,
fully maintained with a large debate about the electronic
structure and the structural, mechanical electrical and optical
properties of elemental and III-V compound semiconductors,
which involved both theoreticians and experimentalists. In this
frame, the excellent historical introduction given by Professor
Tadeusz Figielski stimulated the audience and gave the necessary
background. For all these reasons, and due also to the
generous support of NATO, the Conference was attended not only
by traditional participants, but by a large number of European and
non-European scientists who do not see extended defects as
their research priority but who will, hopefully, become full
members of the EDS community in the future. Therefore, the
editors of these proceedings, and organizers of the EDS2002
Conference, hope to have followed in the tradition of earlier
Conferences, whilst also opening the future to renewed interest
in the area of extended defects in semiconductors.
The editors of these proceedings are deeply indebted to those
participants who sent their papers in time, to the reviewers
who did their job with extreme care and to Daniela Cavalcoli,
Beatrice Fraboni, Laura Polenta and Marco Rossi, of the
Physics Department of the University of Bologna, who assisted
us with enthusiasm during the last few months of hard work.
Finally, the financial and structural support of the Universities
of Bologna and Milano-Bicocca is also warmly acknowledged.
A Cavallini and S Pizzini
Guest Editors