Synthetic modulated structures

The author undertook to put together the present book on synthetic modulated structure as a volume in the Materials Sciences and Technology Series of Academic Press. The past decade has been marked by rapid progress in thin-film deposition techniques. This development has made it possible to prepare modulated structures with a high degree of material quality and interfacial smoothness. As a class of materials these structures exhibit properties not present in homogeneous solids, thereby providing an opportunity for the investigation of physical phenomena in a medium that can be tailored to prescription. Vast progress has been made in both semiconductors and metals. Activities in these two areas are among the most rapidly expanding fields of solid-state science.