The first advanced textbook to provide a useful introduction in a brief, coherent and comprehensive way, with a focus on the fundamentals. After having read this book, students will be prepared to understand any of the many multi-authored books available in this field that discuss a particular aspect in more detail, and should also benefit from any of the textbooks in photochemistry or spectroscopy that concentrate on a particular mechanism.§Based on a successful and well-proven lecture course given by one of the authors for many years, the book is clearly structured into four sections: electronic structure of semiconductors, excitations, optoelectronic devices and photophysical processes. In addition, at the end of each section, a list of conceptual questions is included to monitor the learning curve.