IntroductionCharacterization of Semiconductor Heterostructures and Nanostructures

High-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices based on semiconductor heterostructures and nanostructures require increasingly strict and well-defined performances, needing a detailed control, at the atomic level, of structures dimensions, geometries and chemical composition. This goal has been achieved by an improvement of the growth techniques, by the parallel use of increasingly sophisticated characterization techniques and of more and more accurate ab initio calculations. This chapter, introducing the second edition of the book “Characterization of Semiconductor Heterostructures and Nanostructures”, is divided into four sections. In Section 1.1, the impact of nanoscience and nanotechnology in our society is described, using the point of view of bibliometry, discussing the articles, the citations and the journals devoted to the field. The multidisciplinary nature of nanotechnology is highlighted in Section 1.2, while the dynamic interplay among growth/synthesis techniques, theoretical modeling and characterization techniques in the design and improvement of semiconductor heterostructure-based devices are discussed in Section 1.3. Section 1.4 reports the purposes of the book and the chapters' layout.