Modem materials science is exploiting novel tools of solid-state physics and chemistry to obtain an unprecedented understanding of the structure of matter at the atomic level. The direct outcome of this understanding is the ability to design and fabricate new materials whose properties are tailored to a given device ap- plication. Although applications of materials science can range from low weight, high strength composites for the automobile and aviation industry to biocompat- ible polymers, in no other field has progress been more strikingly rapid than in that of electronic materials. In...