Semiconductor technology for the non-technologist, 2nd edition

The properties of semiconductor materials, the methods of processing them, and the solid state products made from them are described in terms intended to be understandable by the lay person. The semiconductor industry has grown at a rate of 21 percent per year compounded for the last 20 years, and its products have declined in unit cost by a factor of five in current dollars (a factor of ten in constant dollars) in the same period. This very satisfactory but anomalous behavior has attracted the interest of many who are not familiar with the technology of the industry, yet who need to have some understanding of it. This report is intended to help meet that need.