SEMICONDUCTOR ELECTRONICS AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN SCIENCE OF SURFACES

Semiconductor surfaces were the launching platform for the solid state electronic revolution. The brilliant concept of surface states led directly to the discovery of the transistor in 1947. The chemical instability of the Ge surfaces, however, rendered the new devices irreproducible and unstable. This threat to the viability of semiconductor electronics, precipitated an international search, of a magnitude unparalleled in the history of science and technology, directed at the understanding and controlling of semiconductor surfaces. The roots of all of today's powerful experimental tools, techniques, procedures and fundamental concepts at the disposal of surface science and engineering can be traced to that gigantic effort on the study of semiconductor surfaces. Clearly, solid state electronics, born and nurtured on semiconductor surfaces, gave, in turn, birth to the modern science of all surfaces. In this article, I attempt to convey a general impression of the mutually constructive interplay between the evolution of solid state electronics on the one hand and surface science and engineering on the other. I take this opportunity to highlight my own experiences and research involvement with semiconductor surfaces.