Building Blocks for Nanostructural Devices

New materials and processes are pacing the race for smaller and faster electronic and photonic devices. The "spin-offs" from this race include the discovery of new phenomena unique to nanometer-sized systems and an exciting array of new materials. A summary of the technological challenges which confront the use of metal, dielectric and semiconductor materials in nanostructural devices will be given. The response to this challenge will be described with results from recent research, in particular, on the materials science of epitaxial overlayers. Examples from metallic, insulator, semiconductor, quasicrystalline and superconductor materials will be reviewed. The talk will conclude with a projection of current scientific frontiers into the materials technologies of the 21st century.