edited by Antonio Cricenti (Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Italy)

This book assesses the capabilities of state-of-the-art optical techniques in elucidating the fundamental electronic and structural properties of semiconductor and metal surfaces, interfaces, thin layers, and layer structures. It also examines the usefulness of these techniques for optimization of high quality multilayer samples through feedback control during materials growth and processing. Emphasis is given to dynamical processes through the use of pump–probe techniques, together with the search for new optical sources. Some new applications of scanning probe microscopy to materials science and biological samples (dried and in vivo) with the use of different laser sources are also presented.

• Theory of Surface Optical Properties (R Del Sole et al.)
• The Application of Reflectance Anisotropy Spectroscopy to Organics Deposition (G Bussetti et al.)
• First-Principles Optical Spectra of Semiconductor Surfaces: From One-Particle to Many-Body Approach (M Palummo et al.)
• Ab-Initio Optical Properties of Bn(110) and GaN(110) Surfaces (G Capellini et al.)
• Longitudinal Gauge Theory of Second Harmonic Generation at Semiconductor Surfaces (B S Mendoza)
• Optical Second Harmonic Generation and the Characterisation of Low Dimensional Nanostructures on Planar Silicon (J F McGilp)
• Nonlinear Optical Properties of Oligothiophene Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Substrate (T Tamura et al.)
• Second-Harmonic Generation and Photoemission from Al Quantum Wells on Si(111)7x7 (K Pedersen et al.)
• and other papers