Analyst, December 1996, Vol. 121 169N Book Reviews Electrochemical Phase Formation and Growth. An Introduction to the Initial Stages of Metal Deposition By E. Budevski, G. Staikov and W. J. Lorenz. Pp. xi + 410. VCH. 1996. Price DM198.00; oS1465.00; sFr192.00. ISBN 3-527-29422-8. The experiment which brought many of us into chemistry and even more of us into electrochemistry must surely be the electroplating of a copper coin with nickel. The secret that underlies the beauty of this process is expanded upon in this new book. The importance of the subject can be immediately appreciated from the author index which reads like a Who’s Who of Modern Electrochemistry. The subject of metal deposition has its roots in the time of Michael Faraday but by far the greatest advances have come since the advent of modern surface science and in particular scanning probe microscopy (SPM).This book covers most of the subject from simple mechanisms of electrocrystallization to surface modification. It is written in an authoritative manner which is mostly easy to follow. One aspect of this book which should be especially commended is the large number of well-chosen, clear diagrams which bring the subject to life. I can cynically foresee many of these being reproduced world-wide for the introductions to PhD Theses. ‘the finish is brilliant’ The authors gently introduce the reader to the fundamentals of electrocrystallization and go on to discuss structural and dynamic properties of crystalline metal surfaces. The important topic of underpotential deposition is covered in great detail in Chapter 3 including the thermodynamic, kinetic and structural aspects of the subject.The book logically moves on to bulk phase formation covering forms of growth, nucleation rates and substrate effects. It then goes on to discuss the growth of crystalline faces. Readers are brought up to date in Chapter 6 with surface structuring and modification relying largely on the technique of SPM. It was nice to see subjects like ultrathin metal films on semiconductors encompassed within this review. On initially reading the contents I was immediately drawn to the final Chapter entitled ‘Outlook’ but I was disappointed to find only two paragraphs, the only defect in an otherwise crystal clear coverage of the subject. Many of the chewy aspects of metal deposition are neatly put in the appendices such that the faint hearted may tip-toe over them on the way to the index.This book will be an excellent guide for those entering the field and an informative reference for those already lost amongst the tall grass. In conclusion this book is very much like our early experiments, coating coins, the subject is covered completely and with the colour diagrams acting as brightners, the finish is brilliant. Andrew Abbott 619009.53 Leicester University Modern Practice of Gas Chromatography. Third Edition Edited by Robert L. Grob. Pp. xii + 888. Wiley. 1996. Price f70.00. ISBN 0-471-59700-7. ___________ ____ ___________________._ This is one of the most comprehensive books on gas chromatography which I have read and the editor, Robert L.Grob, has become a household name among those involved in gas chromatography. One of my criticisms about the previous edition was the lack of information on tandem techniques such as GC-MS, but this has now been fully rectified in this latest book. The volume is separated into three parts, Theory and Basics, Techniques and Instrumentation, and Applications. In Part I , the first two chapters, as might be expected, are concerned with the history and theory of chromatographic separation tech- niques and are written by Grob himself. These would be most useful to students of the technique. This is followed by theoretical and practical chapters on column selection and optimizing separations and show the considerable advances which have been made from the early days of crude packed stainless-steel or glass columns.The modem fused-silica capillary column has come a long way since even the glass capillary columns of a few years ago. It was almost regarded as an art to successfully install these in the GC without breaking them. ‘one of the most comprehensive books on gas chromatography which I have read’ The first chapter of Part 2 gives a comprehensive description of the different types of detectors available including the more unusual ones such as the microwave plasma detector or the useful Fourier transform infrared detector. A section on detector data handling is also included. This is followed by a new chapter on GC-MS and describes the different types of instrumentation available such as quadrupoles, ion traps and sector instruments. To some extent, the development of simple low cost quadrupole mass selective detectors has probably been the biggest advance in GC techniques since the capillary column and considerably increase the specificity of the technique. This is followed by a useful chapter on qualitative and quantitative analyses and a chapter on the various types of modern GC inlet or injector ports available to the chromatographer.The final part of the book, and often the most difficult one to get right, is on the practical applications of GC. In this case, however, I feel that Grob has been successful in giving a balanced overview of the many applications and uses of GC. Invited experts have written chapters on Physiochemical Measurements (one of the more unusual applications), Pet- rochemical Analysis, Polymer Analysis, Clinical Applications, Forensic Science and finally Environmental Applications.As well as providing the student with information on the practical uses of GC, these chapters also provide useful methods for the experienced chromatographer. In summary, this is a book which would be useful in any laboratory carrying out GC or GC-MS analyses. The technique has come a long way since the days when autosamplers were instruments designed for bending syringe needles and pen recorders were designed to cut off the ink supply in the middle of a run. The modern GC is now a precision instrument taken very much for granted where good results can almost be guaranteed at the touch of a button. This book certainly does the technique justice.John Blanchjlonw- 61900746 Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland Belfast Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Concepts and Methods By Daniel Canet. Pp. x + 260. Wiley. 1996. Price f24.95. ISBN 0-47 1-96145-0. This is an interesting addition to the spectroscopists’ library of NMR reference books, which repays study. It is not a ‘how-to’170N Analyst, December 1996, Vol. 121 book in the usual sense but rather a book for the spectroscopist wishing to deepen his or her knowledge of ‘modern’ NMR experiments. The five chapters cover an introduction to the subject, the mathematics and quantum mechanics relevant to modern methodologies, spin relaxation, spin dynamics and molecular motions, and a survey of multipulse and multi- dimensional methods.Chapter One is intended to be understandable by under- graduate students, covering as it does, the principles of chemical shift and J-coupling. One of the features of the book is the use of quantum mechanics. The sections containing these more mathematical approaches are in smaller type face so that less interested readers can skip them and read only the more descriptive passages. However, since some of the mathematical sections are quite long, much of the value of Chapter One may be foregone by the less mathematically-inclined reader. In addition, some of the important information for undergraduate spectroscopists, e.g., second order effects in spectra, typical proton chemical shifts, and exchange of labile protons receive only brief mentions.’a book which will help the reader under- stand some of the concepts in modern NMR’ Chapter Two starts by covering the Bloch equations and an introduction to density and product operators (small print), the section on the latter being followed by a more descriptive section outlining the rules for analysing pulse sequences. These sections are one of the strengths of the book. After the excursions into the abstract in Chapter Two, Chapter Three returns the reader to the more usual ground of signal averaging, Fourier transformation, quadrature detection and data process- ing. The latter topic includes a very brief survey of non-FT methods. These topics are treated very quickly and the references to the original literature (as elsewhere in the book) are not extensive.However, the practice of citing the first application in NMR of, for example, maximum entropy, may give some useful gateways into the NMR literature. Chapter Four deals with dynamic phenomena, starting with TI and T2 determinations and moving on to explanations of the NOESY and ROESY experiments. The final chapter treats multipulse experiments such as selective excitations, polariza- tion and coherence transfer in a largely non-mathematical way, but draws on the rules developed in Chapter Two to help explain the effects of pulse sequences. In summary, this is not an exhaustive introductory text but it is a book which will help the reader understand some of the concepts in modern NMR. The undergraduate student with an interest in quantum mechanics will enjoy the book, but its more likely appeal is to graduate students and those involved in NMR as practising spectroscopists.Richard Smith 6190040B SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals Harlow Microelectronics Technology. Polymers for Advanced Imaging and Packaging Edited by Elsa Reichmanis, Christopher K. Ober, Scott A. MacDonald, Takao lwayanagi and Tadatomi Nishikubo. ACS Symposium Series 614. Pp. xii + 564. ACS. 1995. Price US$134.95. ISBN 0-841 2-3332-2. As with other ACS Symposium Series publications this volume provides a snapshot of the state of the art in a particular field, in this case research in polymers for microelectronic applications. Much of the work described here was presented in a symposium held at the ACS meeting in April 1995. The contributions are grouped into three sections dealing with chemically amplified resist materials and processes, novel chemistries and ap- proaches for sub 0.25 pm imaging, and polymer dielectrics for microelectronic applications.In each case a brief introduction to the section is provided by one of the editors. Within each section, the individual contributions, many from industrially based research groups, describe aspects of current research in the different areas. These articles are prepared to a high standard and the overall quality of production of this volume is good. An excellent index is provided to help the reader to access the information distributed within the various contributions con- tained therein. ‘a snapshot of the state of the art in polymers for microelectronic applications’ Polymeric materials find widespread use in the microelec- tronics industry, indeed, without polymers as photoresists, dielectrics and packaging materials there would be no micro- electronics industry.Their utility arises from the ability of the chemist to design and synthesize materials with appropriate properties and functionality and the ease with which these materials can be processed. A significant current motivation in the development of the microelectronics industry is the desire to pack more components into ever smaller spaces in order to achieve enhanced performance. The drive towards sub 0.25 pm feature size places stringent requirements on photoresist technology. Basically a photoresist is a radiation sensitive polymer which can be coated onto the substrate, exposed to a suitable radiation source through a mask or by direct write technology and then developed to leave some areas of the underlying substrate exposed and others protected so that chemical etching or other treatment can be carried out on the exposed regions.Frequently after this stage the residual photoresist is also removed prior to further processing. One approach to developing resist with high sensitivity and contrast is to use chemical amplification by the photogeneration of acidic species which then catalyse a subsequent chemical transformation of the polymer. The overall quantum efficiency is then greatly enhanced by this chemical step. However to understand and control such chemistries it is necessary to understand the coupled reaction and diffusion processes occurring within the polymeric layer following irradiation.This area forms the topic of the papers in the first section of the volume. To achieve ever smaller feature size demands the use of radiation of ever shorter wavelength to overcome the fun- damental diffraction limitation. In turn this requires the development of new photoresists which combine the required physical, chemical and photochemical properties. Work on such photoresist development forms the topic for the second section of this volume and includes papers on the design of resist for use with ArF excimer laser radiatrion (193 nm) as well as other novel dry-developed resist chemistries. The final section deals with the development of novel polymer dielectrics. These are the materials which serve as adhesives, encapsulants and substrates, Again the drive to place larger numbers of components into ever smaller areas places stringent require- ments upon the polymers used as dielectrics in such applica- tions. In this case it is necessary to develop materials which can be used in very thin continuous layers to insulate one part of the circuit from another. In this application thermal stability is crucial. A challenge in this area is to reduce the relative permittivity, E, of the polymer below the value of about 2.3 found for highly fluorinated material. P. N . Bartlett 6l90068B University of Southampton