At present in many fields of science research activities concentrate on the study of micro- and nanoscale materials and structures. Volume III/34 summarizes our current knowledge of semiconductor quantum structures. Subvolume 34A and 34B cover growth structuring and doping, and electronic transport, respectively. Subvolume 34C deals with the optical properties. The present subvol. 34C1 offers the theoretical and experimental basis as well as data on III-V, I-VII and IV-VI semiconductors, while subvolume 34C2 will cover the elemental semiconductors and II-VI compounds.