TABLE OF CONTENTS One might ask why another book about GaAs processing is needed. In every field, there are two bodies of knowledge required for true mastery. This is especially true in the field of device engineering. The first is related to understanding the ideal behaviour of devices predicted by fundamental laws of physics. This is the subject of many textbooks and courses and is readily accessible to every engineer. However, as we soon discover as we fabricate real-world devices, behaviour often deviates from that ideal. When that occurs, the questions "Why?" and "How can I fix it or avoid it next time?" must be answered or the same problems will continue to plague our devices.
The second body of knowledge helps us answer these challenging questions. It is that vast body of practical, even anecdotal, knowledge gradually accumulated by a practising engineer through everyday experiences with successes and failures in designing and fabricating devices. It is some of this second body of knowledge that we hope to provide in writing this book. While even the 30-year veteran will not have fully mastered this second body of knowledge, the aim of this book is to share many of the insights and solutions that we have learned during our combined years working with devices made of GaAs and related materials.
In addition, many books on GaAs devices contain sections or chapters on processing methods. However, most books provide only a part of the knowledge required to actually make high-quality...
