2002 IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC)

San Diego, Calif.

The 2002 IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC) will be held December 5-7, 2002 in San Diego, CA, immediately prior to the IEDM. The SISC provides a unique forum for device engineers, solid-state physicists, and materials scientists to discuss issues of common interest. Principal topics for discussion at SISC are semiconductor/insulator interfaces, the physics of insulating thin films, and the interaction among materials science, device physics, and state-of-the-art technology.

This year will be the thirty-third 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 renown scientists and engineers. Abstracts for contributed talks are typically due in early August.

The 2002 SISC will be held at the Catamaran Resort Hotel, 3999 Mission Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92109, phone (619) 488-1081. The Catamaran is on Mission Bay, and one block from the Pacific Ocean (see photo). San Diego typically has fabulous weather, which complements the Catamaran's luxurious Hawaiian decor. The hotel grounds are beautifully lush with colorful fish and tropical birds. San Diego also boasts Sea World, a world-class zoo and historic monuments, all within an easy drive from the Catamaran. Bike and boat rentals are offered on the Catamaran premises.

The conference emphasis is on silicon-based devices, including the SiC and SiGe systems, and topics evolve with the state-of-the-art. Invited talks at this year's conference highlight the many areas discussed at the SISC; a preliminary list of invited presentations follows:

  • Dr. Eduard Cartier, IBM and IMEC, Charge trapping, mobility degradation and reliability of high-k gate stacks
  • Professor Hiroshi Iwai, Tokyo Institute of Technology, CMOS scaling and requested new technologies
  • Professor Tsu-Jae King, UC Berkeley, Gate material issues for high-k gate dielectrics
  • Professor Jack C. Lee, UT Austin, Effects of Interface States and Charge Trapping on the Performance of High-K Gate Dielectrics Devices
  • Professor Gerry Lucovsky, NC State, Electronic structure at Si/high-k dielectronic interfaces
  • Professor John Robertson, Cambridge, Electronic structure and band offsets in high-k dielectrics
  • Dr. Hiroshi Yano, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, SiC MOSFETS and their interfaces

The invited and contributed talks are complemented by informal events designed to encourage lively discussion and debate. 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 to meet informally, relax on the beach, or visit one of San Diego's numerous 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'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.

For registration information and general inquiries about SISC, please contact the Arrangements Chair, Carl-Mikael Zetterling, at KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Microelectronics and Information Technology, Electrum 229, SE-16440 Kista, SWEDEN. Phone: +46 8 752 1409, Fax: +46 8 752 7850, E-mail: bellman@imit.kth.se. Also, for updates on the 2002 IEEE SISC, including travel, technical program, and registration information, visit our web site at http://www.IEEESISC.com

Carl-Mikael Zetterling
SISC Arrangements Chair
KTH, Royal Institute of Technology
Kista, Sweden