The following list gives the names of the acronyms used; the sections where they are first or most relevantly introduced are given in brackets.

0D, 1D, 2D, 3D: Zero, one, two or three (dimensions or dimensional) [throughout] as in 2DEG: two dimensional electron gas [8.2.3]

AES: Auger electron spectroscopy [3.3, 3.4]

AFM: atomic force microscopy [3.1.3]

ALE: atomic layer epitaxy [1.4.4]

APCVD: atmospheric pressure CVD [2.5.5]

APW: augmented plane waves (band structure method) [6.1.2]

AR: angular resolved, as in ARUPS [3.3.1]

BCF: Burton, Cabrera & Frank (see reference list for this 1951 paper) [1.3.2, 5.5.1]

BEEM, BEES: ballistic energy emission microscopy, spectroscopy [8.1.3]

CBED, CBIM: convergent beam electron diffraction [3.1.4, 8.1.3], imaging [8.1.3]

CERN: Centre Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (accelerator laboratory) [2.1.3]

CFE: cold field emisison [6.2.3]

C–I: commensurate–incommensurate (phase or transition) [4.4.2]

CAP, CIP, and CPP: Current at an Angle, In or Perpendicular to the Plane [8.3.3]

CMOS: complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (device) [8.1, 9.1]

C–V: current–voltage, as in C–V profiling [8.2.3]

CVD: chemical vapor deposition [2.5.5]

DAS: dimer–adatom–stacking fault model [1.4.5, 7.2.3]

DFT: density functional theory [4.5.2, 6.1.2, Appendix J]

DLC: diamond-like carbon [6.2.2, 8.4.3]

DLEED: diffuse LEED [3.2.2]

DLTS: deep level transient spectroscopy [8.1.3]

DNA: deoxyribo-nucleic acid [8.4.4]

EAM: embedded atom model [4.5.2, 6.1.2]

EELS: electron energy loss spectroscopy [3.3.1]

EMT: effective medium theory [4.5.2, 6.1.2]

ES: the Ehrlich–Schwoebel barrier [5.5.1]

ESCA: electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis [3.3.1]

ESR: electron spin resonance [8.1.3]

FEM, FES: field emission microscopy, spectroscopy [6.2.3]

FET: field effect transistor [8.4.2]

FIM: field ion microscopy [3.1.3, 5.4.2] …