Group IV Semiconductors Materials Research: Growth, Characterization and Applications to Electronics and Spintronics

This volume is a collection of papers presented at Symposium K “Group IV Semiconductors Materials Research: Growth, Characterization and Applications to Electronics and Spintronics” at the E-MRS Spring Meeting 2016 held from May 02–06 in Lille, France. During preparation of our symposium we were facing the sad situation that Prof. Jan Vanhellemont, one of the organizers, prematurely died. Jan Vanhellemont was an outstanding materials researcher and the organizers decided, in agreement with the E-MRS conference chairs, to dedicate Symposium K in memoriam to him. A brief overview of his scientific career, covering more than 35 years in semiconductor materials science, is given in the beginning of this volume. The major challenges for fundamental research and technological development are no more confined to bulk silicon and silicon devices only, but to a variety of silicon-based structures, such as Si–Ge alloys, nanostructured and nanocomposite materials, thin and thick films, and heteroepitaxial layers on patterned silicon substrates. Their performances are still driven by defect engineering procedures, novel growth techniques, and advanced diagnostics tools. Point defects and extended defects remain in the center of interest for both electronic and photovoltaic applications, where in some cases their engineering represents a unique option for new functionalities, such as the case of spintronic devices. A special session on spintronics was supported by the Fondazione Cariplo (Milano, Italy). The symposium provided a successful forum for scientists from research institutions and industry from all over the world to discuss recent results and new developments in materials research on group IV elements. In total 80 oral and 43 poster presentations made this symposium a fruitful expert meeting.