The second edition has numerous revisions, additional sections such as "Phonons" and "Optoelectronic Materials and Devices", more solved problems, and a completely new chapter on "Optical Properties of Materials". The revisions have improved the rigor without sacrificing the original semiquantitative approach that the students liked. For example, the thermoelectric effect now includes the Mott-Jones index (x) which is normally treated at the graduate level but has been introduced here through a semiquantitative discussion to explain the true sign of the Seebeck coefficient in metals (one of the most difficult graduate topics in quantum mechanics of metals). The problems have also been updated and various difficult figures have been redrafted to enhance the pedagogy.
The second edition includes the Electronic Materials and Devices CD-ROM. The CD includes color overhead transparency diagrams that can be printed by instructors and students on any color printer; an illustrated dictionary of electronic materials and devices; numerous selected topics and solved problems.
The text with its Selected Topics can also serve as a first course in Materials Science aimed at electrical engineers and engineering physics students. It is suitable for both one- and two-semester courses. By focusing only on those topics relevant to materials that make up electronic and optoelectronic devices, the book offers students a deeper and more meaningful discussion of this material than is offered in general materials science textbooks. The coverage is up-to-date and the applications are of special relevance to students of electronics, materials science and engineering physics. The solutions manual for the second edition is available from the publisher, the McGraw-Hill website and also from the author's website at http://ElectronicMaterials.Usask.CA.
