Implementing Client/Server Technology in an Academic Library: A Field-Based Study of Organizational Transition

Despite the strong trend toward distributed computing systems, there has not been extensive research into the effects on organizations as they transition from centralized systems (e.g., mainframe). The proposed dissertation study will attempt to address this by chronicling the organizational change coincident with the implementation of a client/server computing system in an academic library. Two phases of research are planned. The first, exploratory phase, involves a longitudinal, field-based study of a single academic library at a mid-sized university. This paper outlines a plan for this initial phase of research. In the second phase, a comparative study of several academic libraries is planned, based onfindings from the first phase. The author is currently in the early stages of data collection, so no findings are presented

Technology as Folklore: A Study of Change Through New Technology

We are in the second year of a three year, longitudinal, field-based study of work group life and technology change. Our view is that present organizational life has two dominant characteristics. The first characteristic is an increasing interdependence between members of the organization to do work. The second characteristic is the increasing dependence on information technology to support work. The interaction of these two forces becomes a key issue confronting the modern organization. In that context, this research seeks to describe: • How is client/server computing effecting technology-supported, group-based, work? • How are these effects shaped by organizational, temporal and social structures? This study focuses on chronicling the change in I/T infrastructure at one large academic organization. This change is viewed from a multi-theoretic perspective. We have the opportunity to observe and document the move of a large academic organization as it embraces the client-server computing infrastructure. Present, interim, findings include: (1) technical changes are difficult, social and organizational changes are more difficult; (2) change requires they maintain two systems; (3) there are two types of users and they are both important; (4) the technologists are now in the middle of the value chain

Critical Views of Organization, Management, and Information Technology: Applying Critical Social Theory to Information System Research

The authors examine the use of Critical Social Theory in Information System research. A critique is developed through a comparison of existing use of theory with empirical evidence from the authors\u27 recent research. Three questions form a basis for discussion. (1) How do new, distributed information system environments fit within existing critical frameworks of organization and management? (2) How does current theory shape our understanding of information technology? (3) As researchers using CST, where should our focus be in studying IT processes

A Cognitive-Motivational Model of Group Member Decision Satisfaction

A theoretic model of group member decision satisfaction based on a cognitive-motivational view of information- processing in inferential contexts is presented. Unlike normative-rational theorists, we acknowledge that information-processing is biased by the decision-maker\u27s motivations which are assumed to derive from situation- specific goals. Information processing is assumed to be more extensive when judgmental accuracy is the salient goal and less extensive when other goals (e.g., self-esteem) are relatively more salient. The model analyzes the implications of this view for the relationship between confidence and satisfaction. Research propositions are advanced

An Investigation of Carrier Transport in Hafnium Oxide/Silicon Dioxide MOS Gate Dielectric Stacks from 5.6-400K

Hafnium oxide (HfO2) is replacing silicon dioxide (SiO2) as the gate dielectric in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structures driven mainly by need to reduce high leakage currents observed in sub-2nm SiO2. The high dielectric constant of HfO2 (~25) compared to SiO2 (3.9 bulk) allows a thicker HfO2 layer to be used in place of the thinner SiO2 layer thereby reducing the gate leakage current in MOS devices while maintaining the same capacitive coupling provided by the thinner SiO2. However, incorporating HfO2 into MOS devices produces a SiO2 interfacial layer between the Si substrate and HfO2 interface. The increased complexity of the multilayer dielectric gate stack and introduction of new materials requires knowledge of the carrier transport mechanisms for accurate modeling and process improvement. A large temperature dependence of the leakage current in HfO2 gate dielectrics are observed compared to SiO2, indicating temperature dependent leakage current measurements maybe well suited to understand the transport mechanism of HfO2-based gate dielectrics. The leakage currents are measured for two different titanium nitride (TiN) metal gate stacks composed of either 3nm or 5nm HfO2 on 1.1nm SiO2 interfacial layer over temperatures ranging from 6K to 400K. For gate biases that yield equivalent electron energy barriers for the 3nm and 5nm HfO2gate stacks, the 5nm stack shows orders of magnitude less current and an order of magnitude larger increase in the gate leakage current with respect to temperature from 5.6K to 400K. Knowledge of the energy band structure is crucial in determining what carrier transport mechanisms are plausible in multilayer dielectric stacks. Important parameters, necessary for modeling different transport mechanisms, can be extracted from accurately constructed energy band diagrams such as electric fields and barrier heights. An existing program developed by the author is further modified to incorporate image charge effects, multilayer dielectrics, and transmission coefficient calculations for use in this study. Results indicate that the widely used Poole-Frenkel and Schottky conduction mechanisms for HfO2 dielectrics can only explain a narrow electric field and temperature range and fail to explain the observed thickness dependence. Modeling the temperature dependence of 3nm and 5nm HfO2/1.1nm SiO2 n/pMOSFETs with a combination of a temperature independent term, variable range hopping conduction, and Arrhenius expression (e.g., nearest neighbor hopping) describes the entire measured temperature range (6K to 400K). Additionally, HfO2 defect densities can be extracted using the proposed model and provide densities in the range of ~1019 to ~1021 cm-3 eV-1, which correlate well with defect densities reported in the literature. Defects in the HfO2 are likely a result of oxygen vacancies

On the Thermal Activation of Negative Bias Temperature Instability

The temperature dependence of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) is investigated on 2.0nm SiO2 devices from temperatures ranging from 300K down to 6K with a measurement window of ~12ms to 100s. Results indicate that classic NBTI degradation is observed down to ~200K and rarely observed at temperatures below 140K in the experimental window. Since experimental results show the charge trapping component contributing to NBTI is thermally activated, the results cannot be explained with the conventionally employed elastic tunneling theory. A new mechanism is observed at temperatures below 200K where device performance during stress conditions improves rather than degrades with time, which is opposite to the classical NBTI phenomenon

May 1963

Massachusetts Turf and Lawn Grass Council Better Turf Through Research and Educatio

Integrating Through-Wafer Interconnects with Active Devices and Circuits

Through wafer interconnects (TWIs) enable vertical stacking of integrated circuit chips in a single package. A complete process to fabricate TWIs has been developed and demonstrated using blank test wafers. The next step in integrating this technology into 3D microelectronic packaging is the demonstration of TWIs on wafers with preexisting microcircuitry. The circuitry must be electrically accessible from the backside of the wafer utilizing the TWIs; the electrical performance of the circuitry must be unchanged as a result of the TWI processing; and the processing must be as cost effective as possible. With these three goals in mind, several options for creating TWIs were considered. This paper explores the various processing options and describes in detail, the final process flow that was selected for testing, the accompanying masks that were designed, the actual processing of the wafers, and the electrical test results