Book excerpt: Laser and Electron Beam Processing of Materials contains the papers presented at the symposium on "Laser and Electron Beam Processing of Materials," held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November 1979, sponsored by the Materials Research Society. The compilation presents reports and research papers on the use of directed energy sources, such as lasers and electron beams for materials processing. The majority of the materials presented emphasize results on semiconductor materials research. Substantial findings on research on metals, alloys, and other materials are presented as well. Topics covered by the papers include the use of scanned cw sources (both photons and electrons) to recrystallize amorphous layers, enhanced substitutional solubility, solute trapping, zone refining of impurities, and constitutional supercooling. The use of lasers and electron beams to anneal ion implant damage and contacts formation, processing of ion-implanted metals, and surface alloying of films deposited on metallic surfaces are also discussed. Metallurgists, engineers, and materials scientists will find the book very insightful.