  This dissertation addresses two aspects of the theory and simulation of
stress-diffusion coupling in semiconductors. The first part is a study of the
role of kinetics in the formation of pits in stressed thin films. The second
part describes how atomic-scale calculations can be used to extract the
thermodynamic and elastic properties of point-defects. For both aspects, there
exists an interaction between phenomena at the atomic and macroscopic scales
and the formation of both point-defects and surface features depends on the
stress state of the system.
