Preface
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Preface CMOS technology size shrinking has driven the microelectron- ics industry for the last 45 years in response to the insatiable de- mand for increased performance and integration. This has resulted in a continuous scaling down of many device parameters and initiated research on new materials (high-k dielectrics, metal gates, alternative semiconductors) and device architectures (ul- tra-thin body, nanowires, multi-gate, gate-all-around) as some of these parameters are now facing fundamental physical limitations. The performance of CMOS technology is closely related to the quality of the insulator-semiconductor interface in its various as- pects (gate control, insulating properties, reliability, channel trans- port). Improving this performance and obtaining more reliable devices require an interdisciplinary effort which merges the devel- opment of new materials and modeling with novel fabrication techniques and characterization methods. Such a fusion allows for a deeper understanding of the underlying physics that governs device operation and paves the way to new device functionalities and applications. This special issue of Microelectronic Engineering, entitled Insu- lating Films on Semiconductors 2013, contains papers covering all aspects of the research on the semiconductor-insulator interface spanning from fabrication to modeling and characterization. A sub- stantial majority of these papers was presented at the INFOS 2013 conference held in Cracow, Poland (June 25th–28th, 2013). The papers published in this issue clearly reflect the importance of new materials and their majority deals with the application of these materials as gate electrodes, gate dielectrics or channels in various types of metal-insulator-semiconductor devices and their potential in improving device performance. Of all the regions of a MIS device, gate dielectrics justifiably re- ceive most of the attention. Many papers are devoted to high-k dielectrics for various applications, beginning with the classical sil- icon substrate, where research in the area of fabrication, character- ization and modeling is aimed mostly at enabling future device scaling. A number of papers are focused on high-k dielectrics for high-mobility substrates, especially germanium and silicon-ger- manium, as well as III–V compounds. Nonetheless, research on alternative AlGaN/GaN MOS HEMTs and graphene devices is also present in this issue. Moreover, high-k dielectrics for non-planar devices are another topic that several papers related to silicon- on-insulator technology have addressed. And last but not least, a considerable number of papers is devoted to resistive switching in various high-k dielectrics, with the obvious application in RRAMs, flash and other non-volatile memories. The Reader will also find the results of research on ferroelectrics, as well as low-k dielectrics for interconnects. The influence of the gate electrode material on the properties of the gate stack is discussed in several papers. While new materials are indispensable, the ability to choose the most appropriate one per application and to simultaneously understand the physics behind this choice is no less important. Such ability is closely related to a combination of two complemen- tary approaches: modeling and characterization. A large group of papers is devoted to modeling of the atomic and electronic struc- tures of insulators and interfaces. Another important topic is mod- eling of various aspects of device reliability. Even though relatively few papers are devoted strictly to char- acterization methods, characterization is present in almost every paper. It may serve various purposes, such as identifying the com- position or the band structure of the gate stack, studying the mor- phology, microstructure and granularity by means of various microscopic techniques or demonstrating the operational proper- ties of a device using extensive electrical characterization (espe- cially gate leakage and reliability, and channel mobility). In short, this issue of Microelectronic Engineering offers a com- prehensive review of research topics relevant for insulator films on semiconductors and contains state-of-the art research results. The Reader is invited to take full advantage of the valuable information available in the issue and get acquainted with the most recent ad- vances in all fronts of this exciting field. Bogdan Majkusiak a Lidia Łukasiak a Pascal Normand b a Warsaw University of Technology, Poland b National Center for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’, Greece Valuable assistance in the review process was offered from the members of the Steering and Technical Program Committees of the INFOS conference: Steering Committee Valeri Afanas’ev, University of Leuven (Belgium) Sorin Cristoloveanu, IMEP (France) Athanasios Dimoulas, Demokritos (Greece) Olof Engstrom, Chalmers University (Sweden) Guido Groeseneken, IMEC (Belgium) Steve Hall, University of Liverpool (Great Britain) John Robertson, University of Cambridge (Great Britain) Luca Selmi, University of Udine (Italy) doi:10.1016/S0167-9317(13)00490-5 Microelectronic Engineering 109 (2013) xi–xii Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Microelectronic Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mee
Transcript of Preface
Preface
Bogdan Majkusiak a
Lidia Łukasiak a
Pascal Normand b
a Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
b National Center for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’, Greece
Valuable assistance in the review process was offered from themembers of the Steering and Technical Program Committees of theINFOS conference:
Steering Committee
Valeri Afanas’ev, University of Leuven (Belgium)Sorin Cristoloveanu, IMEP (France)Athanasios Dimoulas, Demokritos (Greece)Olof Engstrom, Chalmers University (Sweden)Guido Groeseneken, IMEC (Belgium)Steve Hall, University of Liverpool (Great Britain)John Robertson, University of Cambridge (Great Britain)Luca Selmi, University of Udine (Italy)
Microelectronic Engineering 109 (2013) xi–xii
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Microelectronic Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate /mee
CMOS technology size shrinking has driven the microelectron-ics industry for the last 45 years in response to the insatiable de-mand for increased performance and integration. This hasresulted in a continuous scaling down of many device parametersand initiated research on new materials (high-k dielectrics, metalgates, alternative semiconductors) and device architectures (ul-tra-thin body, nanowires, multi-gate, gate-all-around) as some ofthese parameters are now facing fundamental physical limitations.
The performance of CMOS technology is closely related to thequality of the insulator-semiconductor interface in its various as-pects (gate control, insulating properties, reliability, channel trans-port). Improving this performance and obtaining more reliabledevices require an interdisciplinary effort which merges the devel-opment of new materials and modeling with novel fabricationtechniques and characterization methods. Such a fusion allowsfor a deeper understanding of the underlying physics that governsdevice operation and paves the way to new device functionalitiesand applications.
This special issue of Microelectronic Engineering, entitled Insu-lating Films on Semiconductors 2013, contains papers covering allaspects of the research on the semiconductor-insulator interfacespanning from fabrication to modeling and characterization. A sub-stantial majority of these papers was presented at the INFOS 2013conference held in Cracow, Poland (June 25th–28th, 2013).
The papers published in this issue clearly reflect the importanceof new materials and their majority deals with the application ofthese materials as gate electrodes, gate dielectrics or channels invarious types of metal-insulator-semiconductor devices and theirpotential in improving device performance.
Of all the regions of a MIS device, gate dielectrics justifiably re-ceive most of the attention. Many papers are devoted to high-kdielectrics for various applications, beginning with the classical sil-icon substrate, where research in the area of fabrication, character-ization and modeling is aimed mostly at enabling future devicescaling. A number of papers are focused on high-k dielectrics forhigh-mobility substrates, especially germanium and silicon-ger-manium, as well as III–V compounds. Nonetheless, research onalternative AlGaN/GaN MOS HEMTs and graphene devices is alsopresent in this issue. Moreover, high-k dielectrics for non-planardevices are another topic that several papers related to silicon-on-insulator technology have addressed. And last but not least, aconsiderable number of papers is devoted to resistive switchingin various high-k dielectrics, with the obvious application inRRAMs, flash and other non-volatile memories. The Reader willalso find the results of research on ferroelectrics, as well as low-kdielectrics for interconnects. The influence of the gate electrodematerial on the properties of the gate stack is discussed in severalpapers.
doi:10.1016/S0167-9317(13)00490-5
While new materials are indispensable, the ability to choose themost appropriate one per application and to simultaneouslyunderstand the physics behind this choice is no less important.Such ability is closely related to a combination of two complemen-tary approaches: modeling and characterization. A large group ofpapers is devoted to modeling of the atomic and electronic struc-tures of insulators and interfaces. Another important topic is mod-eling of various aspects of device reliability.
Even though relatively few papers are devoted strictly to char-acterization methods, characterization is present in almost everypaper. It may serve various purposes, such as identifying the com-position or the band structure of the gate stack, studying the mor-phology, microstructure and granularity by means of variousmicroscopic techniques or demonstrating the operational proper-ties of a device using extensive electrical characterization (espe-cially gate leakage and reliability, and channel mobility).
In short, this issue of Microelectronic Engineering offers a com-prehensive review of research topics relevant for insulator films onsemiconductors and contains state-of-the art research results. TheReader is invited to take full advantage of the valuable informationavailable in the issue and get acquainted with the most recent ad-vances in all fronts of this exciting field.
Technical Program Committee
Takashi Ando, IBM (USA)Eduard Cartier, IBM (USA)Jean Fompeyrine, IBM (Switzerland)Francisco Gamiz, Universidad de Granada (Spain)Gérard Ghibaudo, IMEP (France)Gabriella Ghidini, STM (Italy)Marc Heyns, IMEC (Belgium)Paul Hurley, Tyndall National Institute (Ireland)Daniele Ielmini, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)Hiroshi Iwai, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)Andreas Kerber, GlobalFoundries (USA)Young Kuk, Seoul National University (Korea)Charles Leroux, CEA-LETI (France)Paul McIntyre, Stanford University (USA)Bogdan Majkusiak, Warsaw University of Technology (Poland)Siegfried Mantl, PGI-9/FZ-Juelich (Germany)Enrique Miranda, Universidad de Barcelona (Spain)Alfredo Pasquarello, EPFL (Switzerland)
Local organizers
Warsaw University of TechnologyBogdan Majkusiak (Chairman)Robert Mroczynski (Co-Chairman)Lidia Łukasiak (Proceedings)Grzegorz GłuszkoJarosław GrabowskiAndrzej MazurakPaweł SałekAgnieszka ZarebaJagiellonian UniversityMarek Szymonski
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