The unique feature of laser beams to deliver intense light at a specific photon energy makes lasers useful and enabling in the processing of advanced materials. The availability of high-intensity laser sources over a wide spectral and temporal range has inspired advances in both the fundamental understanding of laser-solid interactions and the application of lasers in materials processing and characterization. This progress has resulted in a growing acceptance of lasers in material and device synthesis. For instance, pulsed-laser deposition has emerged as an important process for growing...

The exponential growth in information technologies has resulted in an explosion in the need for data storage with increased speed and reliability. These requirements have caused rapid development of complex magnetic materials and structures. The rate of technology development has led to a situation where the performance envelope of new materials is not fully known until the materials are fabricated into devices. In response to this, the focus of this book, first published in 2001, is not only on magnetic materials, but also on techniques and technology associated with device fabrication. The...

Chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) is a critical technology in the planarization of multilevel metallization systems and shallow-trench isolation in semiconductor manufacturing. Other emerging applications for this technology include flat-panel displays, magnetic data storage and microelectromechanical systems. The rapid emergence of copper as the conducting material for integrated circuits has further pushed CMP technology to the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing. However, a basic understanding of the CMP process, which is necessary to enable further advances, is inadequate. This...

This book highlights important achievements and challenges in advanced interconnects and low-k dielectrics as employed in the microelectronics industry. The replacement of Al alloys with Cu along with the introduction of new barrier materials to protect Cu from chemical attack, and the utilization of new dielectric materials with a lower relative dielectric constant k than SiO2 in multilevel metallization structures of increasing complexity, are the major themes of evolution in this field. Invited reviews illustrate the significant progress that has been achieved as well as the challenges...

As the feature size of microelectronic devices approaches the deep submicron regime, the process development and integration issues related to gate stack and silicide processing are key challenges. Gate leakage is rising due to direct tunneling. Power and reliability concerns are expected to limit the ultimate scaling of SiO2-based insulators to about 1.5nm. Gate insulators must not deleteriously affect the interface quality, thermal stability, charge trapping, or process integration. Metal gate materials and damascene gates are being investigated, in conjunction with the application of a...

This book focuses on the creative use of chemistry in the fabrication of a variety of oxide and non-oxide materials which are likely to play a crucial role in the development of the next generation of microelectronics devices. It includes inorganic precursor chemistry, gas-phase and solid-state chemistry, materials science, chemical physics and chemical engineering. Highlights include the deposition of high-k dielectric gate oxides, ferroelectric oxide films for infrared and memory applications, low-k dielectrics, TiN and TaN diffusion barriers, and fresh precursors for III-V nitrides. The...

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) hold great promise for sensing and actuating on the micron scale. There is a hierarchy of increasing difficulty for placing MEMS devices in the field. Devices that do not allow contact between structural members rely mainly on mechanical properties of freestanding films. High-resolution techniques must be developed within the framework of MEMS to measure properties such as modulus and residual stress. When contact and rubbing contact are allowed, the complexities of adhesion and friction at the microscale must be understood and well controlled. Fluid...

'Smart' materials can be attached to, or embedded into, structural systems to enable the structure to sense a change in the environment and respond to the ensuing stimulus accordingly. Actuators and sensors incorporating smart materials such as piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, electrostrictive, and shape memory alloys have been intensively developed. Such smart materials find tremendous applications ranging from active vibration control/suppression and precise positioning for manufacturing and machining, to devices for office equipment, automotive and biomedical areas. This book addresses...

Electric or magnetic tunability of RF and microwave devices is desirable for a variety of civilian and military applications. Tremendous advances have been made in thin-film processing, in particular with metal-oxide thin films. Consequently, it has been recognized that the integration of nonlinear dielectric, ferrite, colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) ferromagnetic, and superconductor materials could revolutionize tunable devices by providing capabilities while significantly reducing size and cost. Crucial issues facing this technology concern the material properties, in particular, the loss...

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.