Table of contents

Ge_xSi_1–x/Si heterostructures involving two elemental semiconductors are becoming an important element in microelectronics. Their epitaxial growth requires a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of elastic and plastic deformations in continuous and island films both at the early stages of epitaxy and during the subsequent heat treatment. The present work is a systematic review of current ideas on the fundamental physical mechanisms governing the formation of elastically strained and plastically relaxed Ge_xSi_{1– x}/Si heterocompositions. In particular, the use of compliant and soft substrates and the epitaxial synthesis of nanometer-sized islands ('quantum dots') are discussed.

Some aspects of local order in the amorphous state of a glassy polymer are discussed. The physical principles behind a cluster model involving the new concept of a structural defect are presented. A comparative analysis of three major approaches to describing the amorphous state of a polymer is given. It is shown that the cluster model is in reality a unified model which presents a new explanation for many qualitative results produced in the past on polymer structure and processes involved and which, unlike previous approaches, has the advantage of being quantitative. Possible future directions in polymer structure studies are outlined.

A diffusion model for the evaporation of a single spherical droplet is examined taking into account the reduction in the droplet temperature and vapor pressure near its surface, for arbitrary condensation and surface tension coefficients. Quite general analytical expressions for the dependence of the lifetime of a droplet on its initial radius are derived for the first time. This model makes it possible to estimate the condensation coefficient of the vapor molecules from the experimental form of this dependence.

The sign correlation of quasiperiodic oscillations with close incommensurable frequencies forms a dynamic chaos, which interferes like noise with a single interference peak and is controlled by the delay of its constituent oscillations. This property of oscillations with incommensurable frequencies can be employed in multichannel information transfer systems to form radar reception patterns and obtain uninterrupted coherent key streams in symmetric cryptographic systems. The review of known results on the generation and properties of quasiperiodic oscillations is complemented by a description of new experiments.