It is now firmly established that various adsorptive and catalytic
processes taking place on the surface of semiconductors and in MIS
structures strongly influence their electronic properties and hence
modify the parameters of semi- conductor devices. The inverse problem of
how the semiconductor's electronic subsystem influences adsorption and
dissociation of molecules at the surface has been recognized but much
less explored. The main purpose of the present book is to generalize the
experimental data and explain the relationship be- tween these two
classes of phenomena. We also discuss tentative models of surface
electronic states and their interaction with adsorbed molecules. The
subject of this book should attract the attention of researchers work-
ing in the overlapping areas of physics and chemistry, and of physics
and biology. The research done in this field will help to widen the
scope of semi- conductor applications by finding novel ways of employing
surface effects in the construct ion of mi croe 1 ectroni c devi ces,
semi conductor gas ana lysers, solar cells, etc. The authors hope that
this book will be useful to a wide circle of chemists and physicists
concerned with the study of interphase phenomena and questions of
adsorption and catalysis. Certain parts of the book will be helpful to
physicists and technicians working in rapidly developing branches of
semicon- ductor physics and technology. The book can also serve as a
textbook for both under- and postgraduates speci al i zi ng in thi s fi
e 1 d.