The last few years have seen great progress in the understanding of nuclei far from stability, i.e. nuclei with a composition that differs radically from that of the stable nuclei that we encounter in Nature. It has become clear that the study of exotic nuclear species reveals many new phenomena, which may make us go back, armed with new insight, to more familiar nuclear systems. The proceedings at the 4th course of the International School of Heavy Ion Physics — Exotic Nuclei, containing the lectures and seminars by world specialists in the field, cover some of the central themes of the physics of exotic nuclei which lie at the forefront of nuclear research.

This special volume contains the proceedings of the 9th Epioptics Workshop, held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily, from July 20 to 26, 2006. The workshop was the 9th in the Epioptics series and the 39th of the International School of Solid State Physics.The workshop was aimed at assessing the capabilities of state-of-the-art optical techniques in elucidating the fundamental electronic and structural properties of semiconductor and metal surfaces, interfaces, thin layers, and layer structures, and at assessing the usefulness of these techniques for optimization of high-quality multilayer samples through feedback control during materials growth and processing. Particular emphasis is dedicated to the theory of non-linear optics and to dynamical processes through the use of pump-probe techniques together with the search for new optical sources. Some new applications of scanning probe microscopy to material science and biological samples, dried and in vivo, with the use of different laser sources are also presented.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 8th Epioptics Workshop, held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily. The book assesses the capabilities of state-of-the-art optical techniques in elucidating the fundamental electronic and structural properties of semiconductor and metal surfaces, interfaces, thin layers, and layer structures. The contributions consider the usefulness of these techniques for optimization of high quality multilayer samples through feedback control during materials growth and processing. Particular emphasis is placed on the theory of non-linear optics and on dynamical processes through the use of pump-probe techniques together with the search for new optical sources. Some new applications of Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy to material science and biological samples, dried and in vivo, with the use of different laser sources are also included.

The book is aimed at assessing the capabilities of state-of-the-art optical techniques in elucidating the fundamental electronic and structural properties of semiconductor and metal surfaces, interfaces, thin layers, and layer structures, and assessing the usefulness of these techniques for optimization of high quality multilayer samples through feedback control during materials growth and processing. Particular emphasis is dedicated to the theory of nonlinear optics and to dynamical processes through the use of pump–probe techniques together with the search for new optical sources. Some new applications of Scanning Probe Microscopy to Material Science and biological samples, dried and in vivo, with the use of different laser sources are also presented. Materials of particular interest are silicon, semiconductor–metal interfaces, semiconductor and magnetic multi-layers and III-V compound semiconductors. Contents:Epitaxial-Like Growth of Lead Phthalocyanine Layers on GaAs(001) Surfaces (L Riele, B Buick, E Speiser, B-O Fimland, P Vogt and W Richter)Optical Properties of Nanostructured Metamaterials (E Cortes, B S Mendoza, W L Mochan and G Ortiz)Ab Initio Long-Wavelength Properties of Metallic Systems: Iron and Magnesium (M Cazzaniga, L Caramella, N Manini, P Salvestrini and G Onida)Magnetic Second-Harmonic Generation from Interfaces and Nanostructures (J F McGilp)Optical Investigations of the Interface Formation between Organic Molecules and Semiconductor Surfaces (T Bruhn, L Riele, B-O Fimland, N Esser and P Vogt)Reflection Anisotropic Spectroscopy Studies of Thiolate/Metal Interfaces (D S Martin)The Physics of X-ray Free Electron Lasers (X-FELs): An Elementary Approach (P Rebernik Ribic and G Margaritondo)The Decisive Role of Interface Phonons in Polaron State Formation in Quantum Nanostructures (A Yu Maslov and O V Proshina)Dielectric Analysis on Optical Properties of Silver Nano Particles in ZrO2 Thin Film Prepared by Sol–Gel Method (M Wakaki and E Yokoyama)Towards Ab Initio Calculation of the Circular Dichroism of Peptides (E Molteni, G Onida and G Tiana)Dynamics and Spectral Properties of Free-Standing Negatively-Curved Carbon Surfaces (M De Corato and G Benedek) Readership: The book is a good reference for researchers that want to be involved in optical spectroscopy as a tool to study surfaces and interfaces. Keywords:Optics;Spectroscopy;Surfaces;Semiconductors;Reflectivity

Gives an account of advances and various perspectives in the study of nuclei far from stability. This book deals with book nuclear structure models and their derivation from the basic nucleon-nucleon interaction. It discusses: the shell model, the interacting boson model and the cluster model."