Optics of Semiconductors and Their Nanostructures

In recent years the field of semiconductor optics has been pushed to several extremes. The size of semiconductor structures has shrunk to dimensions of a few nanometers, the semiconductor-light interaction is studied on timescales as fast as a few femtoseconds, and transport properties on a length scale far below the wavelength of light have been revealed. These advances were driven by rapid improvementsin bothsemiconductor and optical technologies andwere further facilitated byprogress in the theoretical description of optical excitations in semiconductors. This book, written by leading experts in the field, provides an up-to-date introductionto the optics of semiconductors and their nanostructuresso as to help the readerunderstand these exciting new developments. It also discusses recently established applications, such asblue-light emitters, as well as the quest for future applications in areas such as spintronics, quantum information processing,and third-generation solar cells.