Laser processing is now a rapidly increasing field with many real and potential applications in different areas of technology such as micromecha nics, metallurgy, integrated optics, and semiconductor device fabrication. The neces s ity for such soph i st i cated 1 i ght sources as 1 asers is based on the spatial coherence and the monochromaticity of laser light. The spatial coherence permits extreme focussing of the laser light resulting in the availability of high energy densities which can be used for strongly loca lized heat- and chemical-treatment of materials, with a resolution down to 1 ess than 1 lJIll. When us i ng pul sed or scanned cw-l asers, 1 oca 1 i zat i on in time is also possible. Additionally, the monochromaticity of laser light allows for control of the depth of heat treatment and/or selective, nonthermal bond breaking - within the surface of the material or within the molecules of the surrounding reactive atmosphere - simply by tuning the laser wavelength. These inherent advantages of laser light permit micromachining of materials (drilling, cutting, welding etc. ) and also allow single-step controlled area processing of thin films and surfaces. Processes include structural transformation (removal of residual damage, grain growth in polycrystalline material, amorphization, surface hardening etc. ), etching, doping, alloying, or deposition. In addition, laser processing is not 1 imited to planar substrates.

Inhalt
1 Laser Solid Interactions: Fundamentals and Applications.- Fundamentals of Laser Annealing.- Inhomogeneous Energy Deposition in Crystalline Silicon with Picosecond Pulses of One Micron Radiation.- Instabilities of Crystallization in Amorphous Germanium Under Pulsed Laser Irradiation.- Time Resolved Calorimetry of 30 nm Te-Films During Laser Annealing.- Pulsed Laser Annealing of GaAs: A Comparison Between Calculation and Experiment.- Melting Model for UV Lasers.- Applications of Laser Annealing.- Optical Regulation Using Crystalline Silicon.- Optical and Electrical Properties of Laser Annealed Heavily Doped Silicon.- CW-Laser Annealing of CdTe Epitaxial Layers.- InSb Optical and Electrical Property Changes Induced by Multi-Pulsed TEA C O2-Laser Irradiation.- Laser Processing in Silicon on Insulator (SOI) Technologies.- Laser Recrystallisation of Silicon-on-Oxide.- Fundamentals of Laser Micromachining of Metals.- Surface Modelling During Laser Microprocessing.- 2 Photophysics and Chemistry of Molecule Surface Interactions.- Electronic Structure of Adsorbed Layers.- Laser Photochemistry of Molecular Systems Involving Gas-Surface Interactions.- Selective Laser-Induced Heterogeneous Chemistry on Surfaces.- Spectroscopy of Adsorbates by Transient Laser Calorimetry.- Laser Vaporization of Clean and C0-Covered Polycrystalline Copper Surfaces.- Laser Investigation of the Dynamics of Molecule-Surface Interactions.- 3 Photoassisted Chemical Processing.- 3.1 Deposition.- Laser-Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition.- Structure of Platinum and Tin Films Formed by Laser-Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition.- Laser Deposition of Single Crystalline GaAs and Stimulated Sheet Doping.- IR Laser Photo-Assisted Deposition of Silicon Films.- IR Laser Pyrolysis of Silane.- MultiphotonExcitation and Dissociation of SiH4 Exposed to CO2 Laser Radiation.- Deposition of Silicon Films by Photodissociation of Silane Under IR Laser Irradiation.- Characterization of Reactive Intermediates in Silicon Etching and Deposition Using Laser Techniques.- The Physics of Ultraviolet Photodeposition.- Low Temperature Growth of HgTe by a UV Photosensitisation Method.- Applications of Excimer Lasers to Semiconductor Processing.- Linear-Focused ArF Excimer Laser Beam for Depositing Hydrogenated Silicon Films.- Analysis of UV Laser-Induced Heterogeneous Deposition: Platinum.- Laser Photolytic Deposition of Metals on Indium Phosphide.- Laser Photochemical Deposition of Metals.- 3.2 Oxide Formation.- Laser Assisted Pyrolytic Growth and Photochemical Deposition of Thin Oxide Films.- Laser Induced Oxidation of Silicon Surfaces.- 3.3 Etching.- Laser-Assisted Chemical Etching of Inorganic Materials: Mechanistic Studies.- Maskless Dry Etching of GaAs by Focused Laser Beam.- Laser Induced Reduction and Etching of Oxidic Perovskites.- Laser Enhanced Plating and Etching: A Review.- Laser Surface Modification Below a Liquid Layer.- Selectivity of Etching III-V Compounds by Laser-Induced Electrochemistry.- Photochemical Microetching of InP.- Ultraviolet Laser Ablation of Organic Polymer Films.- 3.4 Compound Formation.- Laser-Induced Synthesis of Compound Semiconductors.- Laser Synthesis of Thin Film CuInSe2.- Metal/Silicon Reactions Using Pulsed Excimer and Ruby Lasers.- Structural Investigation of Laser Processed PZT Ceramics.- Light-Induced Sublimation of Cadmium Sulphide.- 3.5 Applications.- Laser Direct Writing Applications.- Laser Fabrication of Integrated Circuits.- 4 Diagnostics of Laser Processing, Materials, and Devices.- Thermal and Acoustic Techniques for Monitoring PulsedLaser Processing.- Temperature Diagnostics for Laser Writing.- Laser Selective Photoionization Technique: Photoion Beam Epitaxy and Semiconductor Trace Impurity Diagnostics.- Optical Microanalysis of Device Materials and Structures.- Laser Diagnostics of Submicron VLSI-Structures.- Determination of the Mechanical Amplitude Distribution of Quartz Crystal Resonators by Use of a New Noninterferometric Laser Speckle Vibration Measurement System.- Characterization of Laser Induced Defects in (Al,Ga)As by Photoetching and TEM Measurements.- Optical Characterization of Implantation Damage Recovery and Electrical Activation in GaAs by Raman Scattering.- Characterization of Gallium Arsenide Layers on Insulators with Germanium Interface Islands.- Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering as a Diagnostic Method in Preparing Organic Semiconductor Films.- Raman-Microsampling Technique Applying Optical Levitation by Radiation Pressure.- Photothermal Analysis of Thin Films.- 5 Laser Diagnostics in Reactive Gaseous Systems.- Raman Diagnostics of Heterogeneous Chemical Processes.- Laser Spectroscopy and Gas-Phase Chemistry in CVD.- Laser Diagnostic Studies of Plasma Etching and Deposition.- Light Scattering Diagnostics of Gas-Phase Epitaxial Growth (MOCVD-GaAs).- On the Generation of C2-Radicals by IR-Multiple-Photon Dissociation.- Index of Contributors.