Amazon.com description: Product Description: Surface and thin film processes are crucial in understanding current and future electronic, magnetic, optical and chemical devices. This book covers the experimental and theoretical understanding of surface and thin film processes. It presents a unique description of surface processes in absorption and crystal growth, including bonding in metals and semiconductors. Venables, an international expert on the subject, covers practical experimental design, sample preparation, and analytical techniques, including detailed discussions of Auger electron spectroscopy and microscopy. Throughout, he emphasizes thermodynamic and kinetic models of structure. This volume provides extensive leads into practical and research literature, as well as links to resources on the World Wide Web. Each chapter contains problems that will help develop awareness of the subject and the methods used. An ideal graduate textbook, this book will also be useful as a sourcebook for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering.