Upcoming Technical Meetings

2001 IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC)

The 2001 IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC) will be held November 28–December 1, 2001, in Washington, D.C., immediately prior to the IEDM. The SISC provides a unique, workshop-style forum for device engineers, solid-state physicists, and materials scientists to discuss issues associated with semiconductor/insulator interfaces, the physics of insulating thin films, and the interaction among materials science, device physics, and state-of-the-art technology.

The conference emphasis is on silicon-based devices, including the SiC and SiGe systems, and topics evolve with the state-of-the-art. Invited and contributed talks are complemented by informal events designed to encourage lively discussion and debate including a poster presentation session.

The program includes talks from all areas of MOS science and technology, including but not limited to the following:

• alternative and high-k gate dielectric materials,
• physics of thin dielectrics and their interfaces,
• gate-dielectric conduction and breakdown,
• silicon carbide and its interfaces,
• physical and electrical characterization of Si/SiO2 interfaces,
• micro-roughness measurement, modeling, and device-related effects,
• hot carrier, plasma damage and radiation effects,
• nitrogen-containing oxides and stacked interfaces,
• surface cleaning technology and effects on dielectrics and interfaces,
• novel oxidation, deposition, and etching techniques, and
• theory of oxide and interface defects

Preliminary List of Invited Speakers and Topics for SISC 2001:

Howard Huff, Sematech (USA), General Industry Overview of High K Dielectrics

John Hauser, NC State University (USA), High K Gate Dielectric University Activity

Wanda Andreoni, IBM Zurich (Switzerland), Ab-Initio Calculations on High K Dielectrics

John Suehle, NIST (USA), Reliability Characterization of Advanced Gate Dielectrics

Ben Kaczer, IMEC (Belgium), Impact of Oxide Breakdown on FET and Circuit Operation

Len Feldman, Vanderbilt University (USA), Oxides on SiC for Power MOSFETs

Martin S. Brandt, Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany), Capacitively-Detected Magnetic Resonance on Semiconductor/Oxide Interfaces and FETs

Generous hospitality allows attendants to focus on enjoying the conference. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and cheese encourage interaction among poster authors and other conference participants at Thursday's poster session. Friday afternoon has no scheduled talks, to allow time tomeet informally, relax, or visit local attractions. On Friday evening the conference hosts a banquet and awards ceremony, complete with the now-famous (and always riotous) limerick contest. The limericks never fail to give the conference presentations, people and events an entirely new perspective!

This year will be the 32nd meeting of SISC. The first meeting was held in 1965 and attendance was by invitation. The conference, now public, alternates between the east and west coasts, and meets just before the IEDM. An important goal of the conference is to provide an environment that encourages interplay between scientific and technological issues. Invited and contributed talks, as well as a lively poster session, are presented in an informal setting designed to encourage discussion, and conference participants enjoy numerous opportunities for social gatherings with renowned scientists and engineers. Abstracts for contributed talks were due August 6, 2001.

This year's SISC will continue the tradition of presenting an award memorializing Prof. E. H. Nicollian. The award will be given for the best student presentation. Ed Nicollian was a pioneer in the exploration of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) systems. His contributions were important to establishing SISC in its early years, and he served as the Technical Chair in 1982. With John Brews, he wrote the definitive book MOS Physics and Technology.

The 2001 SISC is sponsored by the Electron Devices Society of the IEEE, and will be held immediately prior to the IEEE IEDM.

For information and general inquiries about SISC, please see the conference webpage at http://www.ieeesisc.com  or contact the Arrangements Chair, Bob Wallace, at the Department of Materials Science, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 305310, Denton TX 76203-5310. TEL: (940) 369-7834, FAX: (940) 565-4824, E-Mail: rwallace@unt.edu.

Bob Wallace
University of North Texas
Denton, Texas

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