Preface: phys. stat. sol. (b) 241/14
Authors: Venkateswaran Uma D. , Goñi Alejandro R. 
Published: November 2004

This issue of physica status solidi (b) provides an account of the most recent and interesting topical work presented at the 11th International Conference on High Pressure Semiconductor Physics (HPSP‐11), which was held in Berkeley, California, from 2 to 5 August 2004. This is a satellite of the 27th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors held in Flagstaff, Arizona, from 26 to 30 July 2004. About 65 registered participants from different countries gathered at the Clark Kerr Campus, Berkeley, for a lively and highly enjoyable conference both from the scientific and social point of view. In comparison to the previous conferences in this series, held at Guildford (2002), Sapporo (2000), Thessaloniki (1998) and Schwäbisch Gmünd (1996), the attendance was low, owing to the “post‐9/11 reality”. Several potential participants were discouraged to go through the difficult and time‐consuming procedures to obtain a visa while a few others were unable to get their visas on time. In the interest of scientific exchange and progress, we do sincerely hope that the situation improves soon enough, so the international scientific community is not forced to restrict the exchange of research results.

As an advanced announcement and prelude to these proceedings, a Conference Report written by Prof. M. Cardona appeared in the October issue of physica status solidi (b) [1] and is reprinted at the end of this print edition. This issue begins with an historical article by Prof. William Paul [2], one of the pioneers of high‐pressure research in semiconductors, in which he describes the application of extremely high pressures as a powerful tool in solid‐state physics. His studies spanning over a decade (1950's and 60's) helped not only to unravel the behavior of solids, particularly semiconductors, under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature but also to obtain a deeper insight into ambient pressure properties, leading to a better understanding of a variety of physical phenomena. This conference covered several fundamental aspects of high‐pressure physics concerning the electronic band structure, the optical and vibrational properties and structural stability of many different semiconductor materials and compounds. Low‐dimensional semiconductor structures, such as quantum well heterostructures, quantum wires and self‐assembled quantum dot systems were discussed in several papers. Carbon nanotubes and organic semiconductors captured the attention of the audience for two morning sessions. Papers dealing with pressure effects on the performance and properties of diode lasers and materials like manganites and diluted magnetic semiconductors that are used in applications as storage devices were also presented at the meeting. Two prizes, one each for the best presentation in the two poster sessions, were awarded; the recipients are: (1) S. X. Li, J. Wu, E. E. Haller, W. Walukiewicz, W. Shan, Hai Lu, and W. J. Schaff, a joint collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; (2) V. Domnich, D. Ge, T. Juliano, and Y. Gogotsi, Drexel University, Philadelphia.

This conference would not have been possible without the financial support from the Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, and from the Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley. We gratefully acknowledge the excellent secretarial support of Kate Hug and Chia‐Hua Yu as well as the cooperation of Andy Prins in all technical aspects of the meeting.

The next conference on High Pressure Semiconductor Physics will be held in 2006 near Barcelona. We look forward to having another stimulating and enjoyable meeting in Spain and welcome all interesting suggestions to the planning in the two years ahead.