Jul 30 2003
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will release a new standard later this summer (northern hemisphere) that will relate to the measurement of speed in semiconductors.
Germanium is used to induce stress in the silicon lattice, enabling electrons to move faster and in turn increasing device operating speed in computers and other devices.
The interactive reference material is used to help people calibrate instruments that determine the amount of germanium in silicon-germanium thin films. Measurements are compared to known standards, which aids manufacturers in optimising their compositions.
The new standard will consist of a set of thin films of varying compositions supplied by industry participants and characterised by NIST.
The interactive standards have the advantage over more traditional standard reference materials in that they can be made available fairly quickly, i.e. 1 to 2 years after a need is identified, compared to about 5 years for standard reference materials.
The new standards are also claimed to be accurate to about 1%, while currently available techniques claim only an accuracy of 5%.
For more information on semiconductors, click here.