chapter 1 Electroluminescence -- chapter 2 Zinc sulphide -- chapter 3 Zinc selenide and zinc telluride / chapter 4 Cadmium chalcogenide nanocrystals / chapter 5 Alkaline earth sulphides / chapter 6 Zinc oxide / chapter 7 Gallium arsenide and its ternary alloys (self-assembled quantum dots) -- chapter 8 Gallium phosphide and its wide-band gap ternary and quaternary alloys -- chapter 9 Gallium nitride and related materials -- chapter 10 Silicon and porous silicon / chapter 11 Silicon/germanium superlattices / chapter 12 Diamond films / chapter 13 Polymeric semiconductors / chapter 14 Liquid crystalline materials / chapter 15 Electroluminescence: an introduction