This book offers an international discussion of materials science issues related to ion-beam modification and processing. In addition to work on optical materials, metals, insulators and polymers, two areas of considerable interest are electronic materials and hard coatings. Substantial attention is focused on silicon technology and critical microstructural issues pertaining to ion-beam processing of silicon, such as transient-enhanced diffusion (TED) and defect/damage behavior, are examined. The emergence of plasma ion implantation (PII) as a major breakthrough for shallow-implant, large-area processing togther with the issue of hard coatings is also featured. Considerable discussion centers on the synthesis of novel metastable materials such as carbon nitride, amorphous carbon (DLC), multilayers and nanophases. Topics include: silicon; compound semiconductors, wide bandgap materials, silicides; plasma ion implantation, low-energy deposition techniques; nanocrystalline and other optical materials; polymers; novel applications and techniques; nitride films and hard coatings and oxidation and corrosion behavior.