A state-of-the-art description of metastability observed in chalcogenide alloys is presented with the accent on the underlying physics. A comparison is made between sulphur(selenium)-based chalcogenide glasses, where numerous photo-induced phenomena take place entirely within the amorphous phase, and tellurides where a reversible crystal-to-amorphous phase-change transformation is a major effect. Applications of metastability in devices?optical memories and nonvolatile electronic phase-change random-access memories among others are discussed, including the latest trends. Background material essential for understanding current research in the field is also provided.

Despite the recent development and interest in the photonics of metallic wire structures, the relatively simple concepts and physics often remain obscured or poorly explained to those who do not specialize in the field. Electromagnetic Behaviour of Metallic Wire Structures provides a clear and coherent guide to understanding these phenomena without excessive numerical calculations. Including both background material and detailed derivations of the various different formulae applied, Electromagnetic Behaviour of Metallic Wire Structures describes how to extend basic circuit theory relating to voltages, currents, and resistances of metallic wire networks to include situations where the currents are no longer spatially uniform along the wire. This lays a foundation for a deeper understanding of the many new phenomena observed in meta-electromagnetic materials. Examples of applications are included to support this new approach making Electromagnetic Behaviour of Metallic Wire Structures a comprehensive and self-contained volume suitable for use by specialists, non-specialist, researchers and professionals in other relevant fields and even students.

This book discusses future trends and developments in electron device packaging and the opportunities of nano and bio techniques as future solutions. It describes the effect of nano-sized particles and cell-based approaches for packaging solutions with their diverse requirements. It offers a comprehensive overview of nano particles and nano composites and their application as packaging functions in electron devices. The importance and challenges of three-dimensional design and computer modeling in nano packaging is discussed; also ways for implementation are described. Solutions for unconventional packaging solutions for metallizations and functionalized surfaces as well as new packaging technologies with high potential for industrial applications are discussed. The book brings together a comprehensive overview of nano scale components and systems comprising electronic, mechanical and optical structures and serves as important reference for industrial and academic researchers.

This book presents the current knowledge about superconductivity in high Tc cuprate superconductors. There is a large scientific interest and great potential for technological applications. The book discusses all the aspects related to all families of cuprate superconductors discovered so far. Beginning with the phenomenon of superconductivity, the book covers: the structure of cuprate HTSCs, critical currents, flux pinning, synthesis of HTSCs, proximity effect and SQUIDs, possible applications of high Tc superconductors and theories of superconductivity. Though a high Tc theory is still awaited, this book describes the present scenario and BCS and RVB theories. The second edition was significantly extended by including film-substrate lattice matching and buffer layer considerations in thin film HTSCs, brick-wall microstructure in the epitaxial films, electronic structure of the CuO2 layer in cuprates, s-wave and d-wave coupling in HTSCs and possible scenarios of theories of high Tc superconductivity.

Electric control of magnetic properties, or inversely, magnetic control of dielectric properties in solids, is called a magnetoelectric effect and has long been investigated from the point of view of both fundamental physics and potential application. Magnetic and dielectric properties usually show minimal coupling, but it recently has been discovered that magnetically induced ferroelectricity in some spiral magnets enables remarkably large and versatile magnetoelectric responses. To stabilize such helimagnetism, magnetic frustration (competition between different magnetic interactions) is considered the key. In the present work, two of the most typical frustrated spin systems-triangular lattice antiferromagnets and edge-shared chain magnets-have systematically been investigated. Despite the crystallographic simplicity of target systems, rich magnetoelectric responses are ubiquitously observed. The current results published here offer a useful guideline in the search for new materials with unique magnetoelectric functions, and also provide an important basis for a deeper understanding of magnetoelectric phenomena in more complex systems.

This brief investigates the diradical character, which is one of the ground-state chemical indices for "bond weakness" or "electron correlation" and which allows researchers to explore the origins of the electron-correlation-driven physico-chemical phenomena concerned with electronic, optical and magnetic properties as well as to control them in the broad fields of physics and chemistry. It then provides the theoretical fundamentals of ground and excited electronic structures of symmetric and asymmetric open-shell molecular systems by using model molecular systems. Moreover, it presents the theoretical design guidelines for a new class of open-shell singlet molecular systems for nonlinear optics (NLO) and singlet fission.

"Solid-State Theory - An Introduction" is a textbook for graduate students of physics and material sciences. Whilst covering the traditional topics of older textbooks, it also takes up new developments in theoretical concepts and materials that are connected with such breakthroughs as the quantum-Hall effects, the high-Tc superconductors, and the low-dimensional systems realized in solids. Thus besides providing the fundamental concepts to describe the physics of the electrons and ions comprising the solid, including their interactions, the book casts a bridge to the experimental facts and gives the reader an excellent insight into current research fields. A compilation of problems makes the book especially valuable to both students and teachers.

Nonlinear Photonics and Novel Optical Phenomena contains contributed chapters from leading experts in nonlinear optics and photonics, and provides a comprehensive survey of fundamental concepts as well as hot topics in current research on nonlinear optical waves and related novel phenomena. The book covers self-accelerating airy beams, integrated photonics based on high index doped-silica glass, linear and nonlinear spatial beam dynamics in photonic lattices and waveguide arrays, the theory of polariton solitons in semiconductor microcavities, and Terahertz waves.

The successful launch of viable MEMs product hinges on MEMS reliability, the reliability and qualification for MEMs based products is not widely understood. Companies that have a deep understanding of MEMs reliability view the information as a competitive advantage and are reluctant to share it.

MEMs Reliability, focuses on the reliability and manufacturability of MEMS at a fundamental level by addressing process development and characterization, material property characterization, failure mechanisms and physics of failure (POF), design strategies for improving yield, design for reliability (DFR), packaging and testing.

This book presents new concepts for a next generation of PV. Among these concepts are: Multijunction solar cells, multiple excitation solar cells (or how to take benefit of high energy photons for the creation of more than one electron hole-pair), intermediate band solar cells (or how to take advantage of below band-gap energy photons) and related technologies (for quantum dots, nitrides, thin films), advanced light management approaches (plasmonics). Written by world-class experts in next generation photovoltaics this book is an essential reference guide accessible to both beginners and experts working with solar cell technology. The book deeply analyzes the current state-of-the-art of the new photovoltaic approaches and outlines the implementation paths of these advanced devices. Topics addressed range from the fundamentals to the description of state-of-the-art of the new types of solar cells.

The past five years have witnessed some dramatic developments in the general area of ferroelectric thin films materials and devices. Ferroelectrics are not new materials by any stretch ofimagination. Indeed, they have been known since the early partofthis century and popular ferroelectric materials such as Barium Titanate have been in use since the second world war. In the late sixties and seventies, a considerable amountofresearch and development effort was made to create a solid state nonvolatile memory using ferroelectrics in a vary simple matrix-addressed scheme. These attempts failed primarily due to problems associated with either the materials ordue to device architectures. The early eighties saw the advent of new materials processing approaches, such as sol-gel processing, that enabled researchers to fabricate sub-micron thin films of ferroelectric materials on a silicon substrate. These pioneering developments signaled the onsetofa revival in the areaofferroelectric thin films, especially ferroelectric nonvolatile memories. Research and development effort in ferroelectric materials and devices has now hit a feverish pitch, Many university laboratories, national laboratories and advanced R&D laboratories oflarge IC manufacturers are deeply involved in the pursuit of ferroelectric device technologies. Many companies worldwide are investing considerable manpower and resources into ferroelectric technologies. Some have already announced products ranging from embedded memories in micro controllers, low density stand-alone memories, microwave circuit elements, andrf identification tags. There is now considerable optimism that ferroelectric devices andproducts will occupy a significant market-share in the new millennium.

The term rapid prototyping (RP) refers to a generic group of emerging technologies that enable very quick fabrication of engineering components primarily targeted for prototyping applications. With RP, very complex three dimensional parts or prototypes can be fabricated without the need of costly tooling and machining. This inevitably leads to much shorter design cycle time and lower cost of building a prototype. Its manifold benefits include significant productivity gains, cost saving, and shortened development time to introduce concept models. As such, RP technologies have attracted tremendous R&D interests from both academia and industry in the past decade. Many different processes and materials have been commercialized and used in industry primarily for the fabrication of physical prototypes. More recent interests in RP technologies are towards functional applications of the fabricated parts, such as in rapid tooling applications and replacements of damaged components. Many processes and materials have been commercialized but are yet to be able to fulfill the aforementioned functional requirements because of limited mechanical strengths of the fabricated parts.

This second edition of a well-received volume has been thoroughly updated and expanded to cover the most recent developments. Coverage now includes additional polymers such as polyindole and polyazines, composites of polymers with carbon nanotubes, metals, and metal oxides, as well as bending-beam techniques for characterization. Again, the author provides a systematic survey of the knowledge accumulated in this field in the last thirty years. This includes thermodynamic aspects, the theory of the mechanism of charge transport processes, the chemical and physical properties of these compounds, the techniques of characterization, the chemical and electrochemical methods of synthesis as well as the application of these systems. The book contains a compilation of the polymers prepared so far and covers the relevant literature with almost 2000 references. From reviews of the previous edition 'a comprehensive reference guide for those interested in this field' (Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry)

This textbook is a revised and enlarged version of notes for a one-semester course on electromagnetism. It covers the theory of electromagnetic phenomena in vacuum and in material media. The book includes a CD-ROM with didactic software, to solve boundary value problems in electrostatics and magnetostatics.

This book brings together selected contributions both on the fundamental information on the physics and chemistry of these materials, new physical ideas and decisive experiments. It constitutes both an insightful treatise and a handy reference for specialists and graduate students working in solid state physics and chemistry, material science and related fields.

As semiconductor manufacturers implement copper conductors in advanced interconnect schemes, research and development efforts shift toward the selection of an insulator that can take maximum advantage of the lower power and faster signal propagation allowed by copper interconnects. One of the main challenges to integrating a low-dielectric constant (low-kappa) insulator as a replacement for silicon dioxide is the behavior of such materials during the chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) process used in Damascene patterning. Low-kappa dielectrics tend to be softer and less chemically reactive than silicon dioxide, providing significant challenges to successful removal and planarization of such materials. The focus of this book is to merge the complex CMP models and mechanisms that have evolved in the past decade with recent experimental results with copper and low-kappa CMP to develop a comprehensive mechanism for low- and high-removal-rate processes. The result is a more in-depth look into the fundamental reaction kinetics that alter, selectively consume, and ultimately planarize a multi-material structure during Damascene patterning.

When I was contacted by Kluwer Academic Publishers in the Fall of 200 I, inviting me to edit a volume of papers on the issue of electron transport in quantum dots, I was excited by what I saw as an ideal opportunity to provide an overview of a field of research that has made significant contributions in recent years, both to our understanding of fundamental physics, and to the development of novel nanoelectronic technologies. The need for such a volume seemed to be made more pressing by the fact that few comprehensive reviews of this topic have appeared in the literature, in spite of the vast activity in this area over the course of the last decade or so. With this motivation, I set out to try to compile a volume that would fairly reflect the wide range of opinions that has emerged in the study of electron transport in quantum dots. Indeed, there has been no effort on my part to ensure any consistency between the different chapters, since I would prefer that this volume instead serve as a useful forum for the debate of critical issues in this still developing field. In this matter, I have been assisted greatly by the excellent series of articles provided by the different authors, who are widely recognized as some of the leaders in this vital area of research.

Silicon on Insulator is more than a technology, more than a job, and more than a venture in microelectronics; it is something different and refreshing in device physics. This book recalls the activity and enthu siasm of our SOl groups. Many contributing students have since then disappeared from the SOl horizon. Some of them believed that SOl was the great love of their scientific lives; others just considered SOl as a fantastic LEGO game for adults. We thank them all for kindly letting us imagine that we were guiding them. This book was very necessary to many people. SOl engineers will certainly be happy: indeed, if the performance of their SOl components is not always outstanding, they can now safely incriminate the relations given in the book rather than their process. Martine, Gunter, and Y. S. Chang can contemplate at last the amount of work they did with the figures. Our SOl accomplices already know how much we borrowed from their expertise and would find it indecent to have their detailed contri butions listed. Jean-Pierre and Dimitris incited the book, while sharing their experience in the reliability of floating bodies. Our families and friends now realize the SOl capability of dielectrically isolating us for about two years in a BOX. Our kids encouraged us to start writing. Our wives definitely gave us the courage to stop writing. They had a hard time fighting the symptoms of a rapidly developing SOl allergy.

Interfaces between dissimilar materials are met everywhere in microelectronics and microsystems. In order to ensure faultless operation of these highly sophisticated structures, it is mandatory to have fundamental understanding of materials and their interactions in the system. In this difficult task, the "traditional" method of trial and error is not feasible anymore; it takes too much time and repeated efforts. In Interfacial Compatibility in Microelectronics, an alternative approach is introduced. In this revised method four fundamental disciplines are combined: i) thermodynamics of materials ii) reaction kinetics iii) theory of microstructures and iv) stress and strain analysis. The advantages of the method are illustrated in Interfacial Compatibility in Microelectronics which includes: solutions to several common reliability issues in microsystem technology, methods to understand and predict failure mechanisms at interfaces between dissimilar materials and an approach to DFR based on deep understanding in materials science, rather than on the use of mechanistic tools, such as FMEA. Interfacial Compatibility in Microelectronics provides a clear and methodical resource for graduates and postgraduates alike.

Recently a new sphere in materials science* has formed which subject is structure and properties of electret materials used in engineering, medicine, biotechnology and other branches. It is characterized by specific methods of experimental investigations based on recording charge transfer, polarization and depolarization of dielectrics and involves original techniques and physico-mathematical aids where notions that exist at the interface of several natural and technical sciences are concentrated. It embraces a vast area of applications mainly in engineering, instrument making, electronics, medical technique, biotechnology, and etc., has a specialized technological base for electric polarization of dielectrics composed of uncommon technological methods, equipment and instrumentation. Apparently, future fundamental investigations in the domain of electret materials science are to be developed at the interface of computer of dielectrics. Elaboration of a simulation, physics and physical chemistry model for electric polarization of solid media with uneven charge density distribution, complicated by surface phenomena, outer electromagnetic, heat, chemical and other effects, presents a grave methodological problem. The simulation of structures in which polarization follows diffusion mechanism of chemically active molecules or their fragments, and the development of calculation methods for polarized charge relaxation and regularities of dielectric nonlinear properties, are the most urgent objectives of current research. Success in bioelectret effect studies is anticipated to result in profound widening of natural science knowledge.

This book is intended for readers desiring a comprehensive analysis of the latest developments in widegap II-VI materials research for opto-electronic applications and basic insight into the fundamental underlying principles. Therefore, it is hoped that this book will serve two purposes. Firstly, to educate newcomers to this exciting area of physics and technology and, secondly, to provide specialists with useful references and new insights in related areas of II-VI materials research. The motivation for preparing this book originated from the need for a current review of this fertile and important field. A primary goal of this book is therefore to present an eclectic synthesis of these sometimes diverse fields of investigation. This book consists of three main sections, namely (1) Growth and Properties, (2) Materials Characterization and (3) Devices. Part One presents an overall perspective of the state of the art in the preparation of the widegap II-VI materials. Part Two concentrates on current topics pertinent to the characterization of these materials from the unique perspective of each of the authors. Part Three focuses on advances in the opto-electronic applications of these materials. The material in this section runs the gamut from addressing recent advances in device areas which date back to some of the earliest reported research in these materials, to tackling some quite new and exciting future directions.

Diffusion Barrier Stack - 5 nm -3 nm -2 nm :. . . -. . . . : . . O. 21-lm Figure 2: Schematic representing a cross-sectional view of the topography that is encountered in the processing of integrated circuits. (Not to scale) these sub-micron sized features is depicted in Fig. 2. The role of the diffusion barrier is to prevent the diffusion of metallic ions into the interlayer dielectric (lLD). Depending on the technology, in particular the choice of the ILD and the metal interconnect, the diffusion barrier may be Ti, Ta, TiN, TaN, or a multi-layered structure of these materials. The adhesion of the barrier to the dielectric, the conformality of the barrier to the feature, the physical structure of the film, and the chemical composition of the film are key issues that are determined in part by the nature of the deposition process. Likewise, after the growth of the barrier, a conducting layer (the seed layer) is needed for subsequent filling of the trench by electrochemical deposition. Again, the growth process must be able to deposit a film that is continuous along the topography of the sub-micron sized features. Other factors of concern are the purity and the texture of the seed layer, as both of these factors influence the final resistivity of the metallic interconnect. Sputter-deposited coatings are also commonly employed for their electro-optical properties. For example, an electrochromic glazing is used to control the flux of light that is transmitted through a glazed material.

Charge Transport in Organic Semiconductors, by Heinz Bassler and Anna Kohler. Frontiers of Organic Conductors and Superconductors, by Gunzi Saito and Yukihiro Yoshida. Fullerenes, Carbon Nanotubes, and Graphene for Molecular Electronics, by Julio R. Pinzon, Adrian Villalta-Cerdas and Luis Echegoyen. Current Challenges in Organic Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, by Cody W. Schlenker and Mark E. Thompson.- Molecular Monolayers as Semiconducting Channels in Field Effect Transistors, by Cherie R. Kagan. Issues and Challenges in Vapor-Deposited Top Metal Contacts for Molecule-Based Electronic Devices, by Masato M. Maitani and David L. Allara. Spin Polarized Electron Tunneling and Magnetoresistance in Molecular Junctions, by Greg Szulczewski."

The focused ion beam (FIB) system is an important tool for understanding and manipulating the structure of materials at the nanoscale. Combining this system with an electron beam creates a DualBeam - a single system that can function as an imaging, analytical and sample modification tool. Presenting the principles, capabilities, challenges and applications of the FIB technique, this edited volume, first published in 2007, comprehensively covers the ion beam technology including the DualBeam. The basic principles of ion beam and two-beam systems, their interaction with materials, etching and deposition are all covered, as well as in situ materials characterization, sample preparation, three-dimensional reconstruction and applications in biomaterials and nanotechnology. With nanostructured materials becoming increasingly important in micromechanical, electronic and magnetic devices, this self-contained review of the range of ion beam methods, their advantages, and when best to implement them is a valuable resource for researchers in materials science, electrical engineering and nanotechnology.