Russian specialists in space materials technology have elaborated a fundamental research program for the period up to 2010. Research into the Synthesis of Transistor Multi-Layer Epitaxial Structures in Space Vacuum behind a Molecular Screen is a new subject at the top of the list. The Institute of Transistor Physics of the RAS Siberian Branch has been assigned as the head institution responsible for its implementation. The department for growth and structure of transistor crystals and films, led by Oleg Pchelyakov, Dr. Sc. (Phys. & Math.), will be engaged directly in the development of methods and equipment for the implementation of this space technology called EKRAN (Screen). He spoke about the project in his interview granted to the newspaper Nauka v Sibiri. The researcher stressed that as a result of the development of transistor materiology in the past 25 years, high-precision and science-intensive technologies have been developed with the use of high and pure vacuum, with molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) primarily among them. The process is associated with the growth of monocrystalline thin films and multi-layer structures consisting of varied chemical compounds and solid solutions with transistor, metal or insulating properties. The process consists in the application of these films with the help of molecular and atomic beams in superhigh vacuum to the surface of a transistor plate with strict control over the chemical composition, structure and thickness of each of its layers. Such systems are used as the initial material for building micro- and optical electronic circuits and devices. Moreover, the MBE technology in combination with modern lithography methods for formation of the pattern of microcircuits (by analogy with nanocircuits) has made it possible to switch over from micron layers and linear dimensions of individual elements to nano-metric ones. Three orders of magnitude for each of the three dimensions in the electronic device space ... Read more