Nanocharacterization of Electronic Materials and Devices

Dean of Faculty of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Wuppertal Germany
Due to the continuous decrease of the dimensions of modern electronic devices material analysis and device diagnostics have to be combined with the accordingly necessary spatial resolution. Such reliability issues include the analysis of hetero layer systems as well as the quality evaluation of standard silicon technology. Aside of the detection of simple material inhomogeneities or defects all device relevant parameters are important such as thermal, mechanical, optical, and electrical properties. As many device structures are already in the nanometre regime, many methods to be used have to be based on scanning microscopes such as scanning electron or scanning force microscopes or on hybrid systems being a combination of both. Examples of such techniques will be demonstrated for various electronic materials and devices such as silicon, II-V compounds, diamond and ferroelectrica.
Professor Ludwig Josef Balk studies physics at the Technical University (RWTH) Aachen, gaining his diploma in 1971, then his doctoral degree within the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in 1976. Following his move to Duisburg University as Academic Director within the Department of Materials, he took a full chair professorship for electronics in the Faculty of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Wuppertal in 1991 and is presently dean of the faculty. His major research is best described by development of techniques for micro and nano characterization of materials and devices for electrical and electronical engineering. Applications range from pure electronic materials and devices, inorganics like functional ceramics to organics and biological materials such as human tissue and cells. He has co-authored 200 publications and has given about 100 seminars world wide. He is Associate Editor of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics since 1991 and was Distinguished Visiting Professor of the National University of Wuppertal.