Vol. 26 - nº 1 - March - 1996

SPECIAL SECTION: PROCEEDINGS OF THE
7th BRAZILIAN WORKSHOP ON SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS
held in Rio de Janeiro, 16 - 21 July, 1995

The first Brazilian School on Semiconductor Physics took place in Campinas, São Paulo, in 1983. It was really a School, with tutorial presentations aiming to develop this strategic field of research in Brazil. In 1993, it was clear for the participants and organizers of the Sixth Brazilian School on Semiconductor Physics in São Carlos, that Semiconductor Physics in Brazil had developed and was beginning to flourish. Along 10 years this event changed to became a dynamic Workshop where research in Semiconductor Physics carried out in different institutions was presented and discussed among colleagues. The Committee in charge of this Seventh event of the series agreed that the name should reflect this new reality, therefore the change of "School'' into "Workshop".

The interplay between basic science and technological achievements manifests itself in a most emphatic and fruitful manner in Semiconductor Physics. Transistors in computers and semiconductor lasers in telecommunications are only two textbook examples. New states of matter in confined form, miniaturization, energy efficient, environment friendly and low cost applications are developments of semiconductor research. The emphasis of the program of the BWSP-7 was on properties and applications of low dimensional systems. We learned a lot from those who are conceiving and are leading the research in a variety of fields, so the spirit of the School of Semiconductors is still present.

Three hundred participants came to this Brazilian event. We received 250 participants from Brazilian institutions and 50 from abroad. The BWSP-7 was also an opportunity for us to shape and strengthen national and international scientific collaboration projects.

There was however a significant absence in this Workshop, a friend and uncompromising supporter of this series of Brazilian events in Semiconductor Physics, and of many others. Professor Leo Falicov, an outstanding teacher and scientist, was here for the First Brazilian School on Semiconductor Physics. He was supposed to be back for BWSP-7. He encouraged and enthusiastically helped the initial steps towards the organization of this Workshop. But Leo Falicov passed away in January 1995, with only 61 years of age. Leo also contributed to the infrastructure of Science and to define scientific policy at the national (US) and international levels. He always kept strong ties with Latin America, and was here for the last time in 1994 at the Condensed Matter Meeting of the Brazilian Physical Society, in Caxambu. He loved Rio, he was counting to come to this Brazilian Workshop.

We are particularly pleased with the timely publication of these Proceedings, eight months after the Workshop. We thank the invited and contributing authors for preparing their manuscripts, and our colleagues in the Program Committee for their active involvement in the refereeing procedures.

Guest Editors:

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