The diploma thesis deals with relation of students to the future, connections between time perspective and achievement motivation and possibilities of diagnostic strategies of researched areas. The diploma thesis is divided into two parts - practical and theoretical one. Emphasis is given on practical part. Theoretical part looks into scientific solutions of time perspective by way of cognitive and personality concepts of motivation (Nuttina, Zimbarda, Pavelková work). I minutely deal with relation between time perspective and achievement motivation which is presented within theoretical approaches of Atkinson, Raynor, Heckhasen. Theoretical part deals with theoretical conception of achievement motivation (in order to deep insight to these issues) as well as it deals with diagnostic approaches and methods of time perspective and achievement motivation. Practical part presents research which took place in period from March to May 2013 in Vysočina region and was focused on high school students. The research focuses on looking for student's relation to future with concentration on achievement fear aspects, relation between time perspective and achievement motivation, possibilities of diagnostic methods and restrictions of observed areas. Heart of the diploma thesis is elaborating of "Method of...

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De nouvelles applications émergent avec le développement de l’électronique souple comme des panneaux tactiles pliables, ou des capteurs de mouvement humain portables (wearable). Les technologies bien maîtrisées des jauges silicium sont mal adaptées à ces usages (faible élongation maximale, hautes températures de fabrication). Dans ce contexte, il est nécessaire de développer de nouveaux types de jauges. De nombreuses alternatives sont étudiées, qu’on peut diviser en deux catégories principales : les transducteurs nanoscopiques et les transducteurs composites. Dans ce travail, on étudie la possibilité d’utiliser une jonction tunnel MIM (Métal Isolant Métal) comme jauge de contrainte. Ce genre de dispositif est très peu étudié dans la littérature et la structure utilisée est généralement de type MIS (Métal Isolant Semi-conducteur). À chaque fois, la sensibilité du dispositif est expliquée par les propriétés du semi-conducteur (silicium). Les objectifs de cette thèse sont donc la compréhension des propriétés piézorésistives des jonctions MIM, l’optimisation de leur sensibilité et la fabrication d’un démonstrateur exploitant les technologies de la plastronique. Des jonctions de différentes natures (électrodes de différents métaux) sont fabriquées par évaporation et par ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition). La variation du courant en fonction de la contrainte est mesurée grâce à un banc de flexion. Le facteur de jauge associé est indépendant de la nature des électrodes mais varie fortement (de 40 à 75) en fonction du sens de polarisation de la jonction. Le facteur de jauge associé à la variation sous contrainte des paramètres géométriques (épaisseur et surface) est calculé mais reste inférieur à 13. Les phénomènes géométriques ne peuvent donc pas expliquer la sensibilité observée. L’étude de l’équation du courant Fowler Nordheim (identifié comme courant dominant dans nos jonctions) montre que cette sensibilité doit être associée à la variation sous contrainte de la hauteur de barrière aux interfaces métal/isolant, et/ou de la masse effective des électrons dans l’alumine. Des mesures de photoémission sont réalisées pour mesurer la hauteur de barrière des jonctions. À terme, cette méthode pourrait permettre de mesurer la variation sous contrainte, et donc de comprendre pleinement l’origine de la sensibilité des jonctions MIM. Pour finir, un démonstrateur intégrant des jauges MIM à effet tunnel (capteur de pression) est réalisé avec un substrat souple en polyimide rigidifié par une structure imprimée en 3D. Ce dispositif démontre la compatibilité des méthodes de fabrication des MIM avec les technologies souples et plastiques. / New applications are emerging with de development of flexible electronic like flexible touch panels and wearable movement sensors. The well mastered silicon technologies are ill adapted to these uses (low maximal elongation, high fabrication temperatures). In this context, it is necessary to develop new types of strain gauges. Numerous possibilities have been studied that can be divided in two main categories: nanosomic transducers and composite transducers. In this work, we study the possibility to use a MIM (Metal Insulator Metal) tunnel junction as strain gauge. This kind of structure is very unusual in the literature were the only similar article are based on MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) junctions. The objectives of this thesis are thus the understanding of the piezorisistive properties of MIM structures, the optimisation of their sensitivity, and the realisation of a sensor prototype exploiting plastonic technologies.

Industrial innovation is mostly driven by miniaturization. As a result of remarkable technological advancements in the fields of equipment, materials and production processes, transistor, the fundamental active component in conventional electronics, has shrunk in size. Semiconductor technology is unique in that all performance metrics are enhanced, while at the same time unit prices are reduced. Moore’s Law, which predicts that the number of components per chip will double every two years, was established in 1965, and the industry has been able to keep up with this prophetic prognosis since. Thermal management, on the other hand, has become a key limiting factor for current electronic circuits and is set to put a stop to Moore’s Law. Given the fact that complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) scaling is reaching fundamental limits, there are several new alternative processing devices and architectures that have been investigated for both traditional integrated circuit (IC) technologies and novel technologies, including new technologies aimed at contributing to advances in scaling progress and cost reductions in manufacturing operations in the coming decades. These factors will encourage the development of new information processing and memory systems, new technologies for integrating numerous features heterogeneously and new system architectural design layouts, among other things. Energy efficiency is advantageous from a sustainability perspective and for consumer electronics, for which fewer power-hungry components mean longer times between charges and smaller batteries. The creation of novel chip-scale tools that can aid in the transfer of information across optical frequencies and microscale photonics between nanoscale electronic devices is now a possibility. Bridging this technological gap may be achieved by plasmonics. The incorporation of plasmonic, photonic and electrical components on a single chip may lead to a number of innovative breakthroughs. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) enable the realization of ultra-small, high-efficiency, ultra-responsive and CMOS-compatible devices that can be used in applications ranging from optical wireless communication systems (6G and beyond) and supercomputers to health and energy.   This thesis provides a platform from which to design nanoplasmonic devices while facilitating high-transmission and/or absorption efficiency, miniaturized size and the use of near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths for telecom applications. With a significant amount of Internet traffic transmitted optically, communication systems are further tightening the requirements for the development of new optical devices. Several new device structures based on the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide are proposed and investigated using performance metrics. The transmission line theory (TLM) from microwave circuit theory and coupled mode theory (CMT) is studied and employed in the design process of the nanostructures, in particular to address the losses in plasmonic-based devices, which has been the major factor hampering their widespread usage in communication systems. By taking advantage of well-established microwave circuit theory (through new design that paves the way for mitigating these losses and enabling efficient transmission of power flow in the optical devices), we have suggested a number of high-transmission efficiency nanodevices that offer highly competitive performance compared with other platforms. As a result, a promising future for plasmonic technology, which would enable design and fabrication of multipurpose and multifunctional optical devices that are efficient in terms of losses, footprint and capability of integrating active devices, is anticipated. / Branschinnovation drivs främst av miniatyrisering. Som ett resultat av anmärkningsvärda tekniska framsteg inom områdena utrustning, material och produktionsprocesser kunde transistoren, den grundläggande aktiva komponenten i samtida elektronik, krympa i storlek. Halvledarteknik är unik genom att alla prestandamått förbättras, samtidigt som enhetspriserna sänks. Moores Lag, som förutspår att antalet komponenter per chip skulle fördubblas vartannat år, inrättades 1965, och branschen har kunnat hålla jämna steg med den profetiska prognosen sedan dess. Termisk hantering, å andra sidan, har blivit en viktig begränsande faktor för nuvarande elektroniska kretsar, och är inställd på att sätta stopp för Moores Lag. Med tanke på att CMOS-skalningen (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) når grundläggande gränser finns det flera nya alternativa bearbetningsanordningar och arkitekturer som har undersökts för både traditionell integrerad kretsteknik och ny teknik. Ny teknik som syftar till att bidra till framsteg i skalningen av framsteg och kostnadsminskningar i tillverkningsverksamheten under de kommande årtiondena. Dessa faktorer uppmuntrar utvecklingen av nya informationsbehandlings- och minnessystem, ny teknik för att integrera många funktioner heterogent och nya systemarkitekturdesignlayouter, bland annat. Energieffektivitet är fördelaktigt ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv och för hemelektronik, där färre krafthungriga elektroniker innebär längre tid mellan laddningar och stimulerar för ett mindre energilagringssystem ombord. Skapandet av nya chip-scale verktyg som kan bidra till överföring av information över optiska frekvenser och mikroskala fotonik mellan elektroniska enheter i nanoskala är nu en möjlighet. Överbrygga denna tekniska klyfta kan uppnås av plasmonics. Införlivandet av plasmoniska, fotoniska och elektriska komponenter på ett enda chip kan leda till ett antal innovativa genombrott. Fotoniska integrerade kretsar (PIC-enheter) möjliggör förverkligande av ultrasmå, högeffektiva, ultraresponsiva och CMOS-kompatibla enheter som kan användas i applikationer som sträcker sig från optiska trådlösa kommunikationssystem (6G och därefter), superdatorer till hälso- och energiändamål. Denna avhandling ger en plattform för att designa nanoplasmoniska enheter samtidigt som den innehåller hög överförings- och eller absorptionseffektivitet, miniatyriserad storlek och vid önskade våglängder av nära infraröd (NIR) för telekomapplikationer. Med den betydande mängden Internettrafik som överförs optiskt skärper kommunikationssystemen ytterligare kraven för utveckling av nya optiska enheter. Flera nya enhetsstrukturer baserade på metall-isolator-metall (MIM) plasmonisk vågledare föreslås och numeriskt undersöks. Överföringslinjeteorin (TLM) från mikrovågskretsteori och kombinationslägesteori (CMT) studeras och används i nanostrukturerna. För att ta itu med de förluster i plasmonbaserade enheter som har varit den viktigaste parametern som hindrade deras utbredda användning i kommunikationssystem, genom att dra nytta av den väletablerade mikrovågskretsteorin (genom ny design som banar väg för att mildra förlusterna och möjliggöra effektiv överföring av kraftflödet i den optiska enheten).  Vi har framgångsrikt föreslagit ett antal nanodevices med hög överföringseffektivitet som erbjuder en mycket konkurrenskraftig prestanda jämfört med andra plattformar. Som ett resultat förväntar vi oss en lovande framtid för plasmonisk teknik som skulle möjliggöra design och tillverkning av mångsidiga och multifunktionella optiska enheter som är effektiva när det gäller förluster, fotavtryck och förmåga att integrera aktiva enheter. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för framläggandet av avhandlingen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete II inskickat, III, IV, V manuskript.</p><p>At the time of the licentiate defence the following papers were unpublished: paper II submitted, III, IV, V manuscript.</p>

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Submitted by Leandro Vasconcelos (leandro-vasconcelos@outlook.com) on 2018-11-15T14:23:16Z No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Letras PPGL (ppgl@ufam.edu.br) on 2018-11-16T14:14:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) / Rejected by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br), reason: A Dissertação anexada foi sinalizada para a disponibilização apenas em outubro de 2019. Trabalhos inseridos por meio de Autodepósito devem ser disponibilizados no ato da aprovação. Neste caso, a dissertação se enquadra como "Confidencial" e deve ser depositada pessoalmente na Biblioteca Central, conforme orientações http://biblioteca.ufam.edu.br/servicos/teses-e-dissertacoes on 2018-11-16T15:01:17Z (GMT) / Submitted by Leandro Vasconcelos (leandro-vasconcelos@outlook.com) on 2018-11-16T15:26:15Z No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Letras PPGL (ppgl@ufam.edu.br) on 2018-11-16T20:35:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2018-11-19T15:04:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-19T15:04:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Dissertação_Leandro.pdf: 1729223 bytes, checksum: 4fa7d7ec6328405dcf68214791aa135b (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento .pdf: 402283 bytes, checksum: d6c9a93364821090a3e1ee863a24354c (MD5) Ata_de_defesa_pública.pdf: 728383 bytes, checksum: 51de4d90c960072933f4323812862807 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-10-19 / This work discusses the issue of memory, testimony, trauma and mourning in the work Você vai voltar pra mim e outros contos, by Bernardo Kucinski. In the initial considerations, which I call "O corte", I deal with the historical context in which the civil-military dictatorship has settled, the role of the National Truth Commission, and how the work analyzed here arose through the reports contained in the CNV sessions. In the first chapter, I bring to the reader a little of Bernardo Kucinski's biography, his life as a journalist, a university professor, and the subsequent transformation into a writer of literature. Soon after, I make a brief summary of the literary works published by the author. I also deal with the theoretical concept of Memory, working with the issue of collective memory in Lucena (2014), of memory strength in Sarlo (2007), non-preservation of memory and its consequences in Costa (2011) and the speech of Hobsbawn (2011) on the continuous present to which young people are subjected. On the testimony, I use the concept of Salgueiro (2012) to define what a witness is in a broad sense; from Selligmann-Silva (2006), on the problem of testimony in Agamben (2008) and Avelar (2003). I also mention the importance of testimony in Sarlo (2007) and on the use of literature to testify in Valéria de Marco (2004). Soon after, I speak properly about the trauma, having as theoretical base the psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi. To deepen the theme, I use the theorists Avelar (2003), Antonello (2016), Santos (2010) and Selligmann-Silva (2008). In order to point out more specifically about the repression, initially developed by Freud, I use Maria Paiva's speech (2011). On resilience, I highlight what Brandão (2009) postulates, which says that the concept of resilience has become quite diverse, since its interpretation has changed over time, just as Rudge (2009) warns us about how trauma has taken the same way, and it is difficult to characterize it because of the various conceptual currents that have formed over time. In the last topic of the first chapter, I talk about mourning and turn to Freud's reflections (2006) again. I use Paulo Endo (2013) and Zucolo (2014) to deepen the concept on the subject and Teles (2017) to reflect on how silence, non-mourning, still makes Brazil a country that does not solve its historical traumas. Entering the three subsequent chapters, all of analysis, I bring in each of them a specific theme, namely: woman, family and clandestinity. In the chapter on the role of women in the dictatorship, I construct the discussion from the short stories “Você vai voltar pra mim”, “Joana” and “A beata Vavá”. In the first narrative, the most visible aspect is that of women in prison, abuses and the collaboration of the judiciary to legitimize human rights abuses. In "Joana", the major focus is on the search for an answer about her husband who was arrested, tortured and disappeared during the years of political repression. In “A beata Vavá” the work focuses on the mother's struggle to save the child from the hands of the torturers, a short story in which Kucinski differ from the rest of the work and flirts with the genre Fantástico. In the chapter on the family issue, the stories analyzed are: “O velório”, “Tio André” and “A mãe rezadeira”. In the first, we have the pain of a father who "buries" the missing child as a form of resilience and / or protest in the face of the events of the last decades and the finitude of his life; in the second, Kucinski writes of a survivor after the trauma of being tortured by political repression, denouncing the state and its negligence with whom it fell victim to the dictatorship; in the third, I reflect on the pain of a mother who has her son arrested, being tested on knowing that the son can be released after the kidnapping of an authority, but being taken by the fear of the son, if released, to be killed by the forces of repression. In the chapter on clandestinity, I bring the short stories: “Sobre a natureza do homem”, “A troca” and “Dodora”. The first is a narrative that shows the destruction of a left-wing militant after the tortures and their consequences; the second express the difficult decision to serve a sentence, to renounce the struggle and return to a normal life or continue to rebel against the dictatorship; and the third deals with the pressure and treachery of life on clandestinity. In the final considerations, which I named " A ferida" I discuss the question of the revisionism of the dictatorship by the population, the discourse of "Ditabranda", which was defended in an editorial of a vehicle of great national circulation and the ascension of militaristic speech in our society. / Este trabalho discute a questão da memória, do testemunho, do trauma e do luto na obra Você vai voltar pra mim e outros contos, de Bernardo Kucinski. Nas considerações iniciais, que nomeio de “O corte”, trato do contexto histórico em que a ditadura civil-militar se instalou, do papel da Comissão Nacional da Verdade e sobre como a obra analisada aqui surgiu através dos relatos contidos nas sessões da CNV. No primeiro capítulo, trago ao leitor um pouco da biografia de Bernardo Kucinski, sua vida como jornalista, professor universitário e a posterior transformação em escritor de literatura. Logo após, faço um pequeno resumo sobre as obras literárias publicadas pelo autor. Trato ainda do conceito teórico da Memória, trabalhando com a questão da memória coletiva em Lucena (2014), sobre a força da memória em Sarlo (2007), a não preservação da memória e as suas consequências em Costa (2011) e a fala de Hobsbawn (2011) sobre o presente contínuo a que os jovens estão submetidos. Sobre o testemunho, uso o conceito de Salgueiro (2012) para definir o que é uma testemunha em um amplo sentido; a partir de Selligmann-Silva (2006), sobre o problema do testemunho em Agamben (2008) e Avelar (2003). Falo também a importância do testemunho em Sarlo (2007) e sobre o uso da literatura para testemunhar em Valéria de Marco (2004). Logo após, falo propriamente sobre o trauma, tendo como base teórica os psicanalistas Sigmund Freud e Sándor Ferenczi. Para aprofundar o tema, uso os teóricos Avelar (2003), Antonello (2016), Santos (2010) e Selligmann-Silva (2008). A fim de pontuar mais especificamente acerca do recalcamento, inicialmente desenvolvido por Freud, utilizo a fala de Maria Paiva (2011). Sobre a resiliência, destaco o que postula Brandão (2009), o qual diz que o conceito de resiliência se tornou bastante diverso, visto que sua interpretação mudou ao longo do tempo, assim como Rudge (2009) nos alerta sobre como o trauma tomou o mesmo caminho, sendo difícil caracterizá-lo por conta das diversas correntes conceituais que se formaram ao longo do tempo. No último tópico do primeiro capítulo, falo sobre o luto e me volto novamente para as reflexões de Freud (2006). Uso Paulo Endo (2013) e Zucolo (2014) para aprofundar o conceito sobre o tema e Teles (2017) para refletir sobre como o silenciamento, o não luto, ainda hoje faz do Brasil um país que não resolve os seus traumas históricos. Adentrando nos três capítulos posteriores, todos de análise, trago, em cada um deles, um tema específico, a saber: a mulher, a família e a clandestinidade. No capítulo sobre o papel da mulher na ditadura, construo a discussão a partir dos contos “Você vai voltar pra mim”, “Joana” e “A beata Vavá”. Na primeira narrativa, o aspecto mais visível é a da mulher na prisão, dos abusos e da colaboração do poder judiciário para legitimar os abusos de direitos humanos. Em “Joana”, o foco maior é na procura de uma resposta pelo seu marido que foi preso, torturado e desapareceu durante os anos de repressão política. Em “A beata Vavá” o trabalho se concentra na luta da mãe para salvar o filho das mãos dos torturadores, um conto em que Kucinski destoa do resto da obra e flerta com o gênero Fantástico. No capítulo sobre a questão familiar, os contos analisados são: “O velório”, “Tio André” e a “A mãe rezadeira”. No primeiro, temos a dor de um pai que “enterra” o filho desaparecido como uma forma de resiliência e/ou protesto perante aos acontecimentos das últimas décadas e a finitude de sua vida; no segundo, Kucinski escreve sobre uma sobrevivente após o trauma de ser torturada pela repressão política, denunciando o Estado e sua negligência com quem foi vítima da ditadura; no terceiro, reflito sobre a dor de uma mãe que tem o filho preso, sendo testada ao saber que o filho pode ser solto depois do sequestro de uma autoridade, mas sendo tomada pelo medo do filho, se solto, ser morto pelas forças de repressão. No capítulo sobre a clandestinidade, trago os contos: “Sobre a natureza do homem”, “A troca” e “Dodora”. O primeiro é uma narrativa que mostra destruição de uma militante de esquerda depois das torturas e suas consequências; o segundo externa a difícil decisão de cumprir uma pena, renunciar à luta e voltar a ter uma vida normal ou continuar se rebelando contra a ditadura; e o terceiro trata sobre a pressão e a traição da vida na clandestinidade. Nas considerações finais, que nomeei de “A ferida”, discuto sobre a questão do revisionismo da ditadura pela população, o discurso da “Ditabranda”, que foi defendida em um editorial de um veículo de grande circulação nacional e a ascensão do discurso militarista na nossa sociedade.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop amorphous metal thin films (AMTFs) for two-terminal electrical device and nanolaminate applications. Two AMTFs, ZrCuAlNi and TiAl, are investigated in both two-terminal electrical device and nanolaminate applications. Material properties including composition, atomic order, surface morphology, surface potential, and electrical resistivity are explored. Application of AMTFs as electrodes in tunneling MIM diodes leverages the ultra-smooth AMTF surface morphology which results from the amorphous atomic order of AMTFs. Analysis methodologies using tunneling MIM diode I-V characteristics are described. A methodology used to estimate potential barrier heights is applied to tunneling MIM diode with differing lower electrode material, upper electrode material and upper electrode deposition technique. A second methodology used to estimate relative tunneling MIM diode insulator thickness is also presented. The presented I-V characteristic analysis methodologies illustrate that tunneling MIM diodes fabricated with AMTF lower electrodes possess tunable I-V characteristics. Nanolaminates are layered materials fabricated with alternating dissimilar thin-film layers. The flexibility of AMTF nanolaminates is illustrated through the presentation of amorphous metal/oxide nanolaminates fabricated with differing AMTFs and aqueous solution deposited oxides. TEM and XPS depth profile analysis of realized nanolaminates are presented. The optical dielectric response of ZrCuAlNi/aluminum phosphate oxide (AlPO) and TiAl/AlPO nanolaminates are evaluated through polarized reflectance measurements and effective medium theory. The optical dielectric response of the nanolaminates differ from the optical dielectric response of the component layers. ZrCuAlNi/AlPO and TiAl/AlPO nanolaminates therefore satisfy the definition of metamaterials. / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from May 9, 2012 - May 9, 2013

The predominant use of mobile media such as SMS and MIM across various sectors in Ghana is incontrovertibly influencing and reshaping interpersonal communications. This paper looked at the use of the Esoko SMS and WhatsApp MIM platforms and how the use of these two dominant platforms are enhancing and reshaping digital communication in the rural and urban Ghana respectively, as barriers of socioeconomic factors limits the use of sophisticated technologies in the rural setting. This is done by employing Madianou and Miller's notion of polymedia” to draw on the moral, social and the emotional use of mobile media in enacting interpersonal relationships and communications whilst keeping in focus the recursive repercussions.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the mechanical, microstructural and corrosion performance of the ferritic stainless steel coarse powders, used in Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process. Three coarser powders made by Höganäs AB, were examined along with a commercially available fine MIM powder and samples from sheet metal. The studied powders were individually mixed with binders and then injection molded in the shape of dog bone shaped tensile bars. These green samples were then debinded and sintered to examine under different characterization methods. The methods used for examining the samples were tensile test, hardness test, metallography, SEM, chemical analysis, and salt spray test. After a comparative study of these different materials, it turns out that the chemical composition and the process parameters have more effect on materials properties compared to only particle size distribution in studied materials. After this study, 434 coarse powder was preferred upon the PolyMIM 430 fine powder, because of its lower price and same performance as that of PolyMIM 430.

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors are used for analog, RF, and DRAM applications in ICs. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) specifies continuing increase in capacitance density (> 7 fF/ m2), lower leakage current density (< 10 8 A/cm2), very low effective oxide thickness (EOT < 1 nm, for DRAM applications), and better capacitance density-voltage (C-V) linearity ( < 100 ppm/V2, for analog/RF applications). In addition, the maximum fabrication/processing temper-ature should not be greater than 400 0C, in order to be compatible with the thermal budget of back-end fabrication steps. Low dielectric constants of conventional SiO2 and Si3N4 capacitors limit the capacitance densities of these devices. Although scaling down of dielectric thickness increases the capacitance density, it results in large leakage current density and poor C-V linearity. In this work, the effects of high-k materials (Eu2O3, Gd2O3, TiO2) on the device performance of MIM capacitors are studied. The performance of multi-dielectric stack, and doped-dielectric stack devices are also investigated. The effects of anneal temperature, anneal ambient, anneal mode, and dielectric thickness on device performance are evaluated. C-V, current density-voltage (J-V), and reliability measurements are performed to benchmark the electrical performance, and this is correlated to the structural and material properties of the films through ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. High-performance MIM capacitors are fabricated by using (RF sputtered) Eu2O3 dielectric. The fabricated devices are subjected to different anneal conditions, to study their device performance. Forming gas (FG) and argon (Ar) annealed devices are shown to have higher capacitance densities (7 fF/ m2jF G), lower leakage current densities (3.2 10 8 A/cm2jAr at -1 V), and higher , compared to oxygen (O2) annealed de-vices ( 100kHz = 193 ppm/V2jO2). The electrical characterization results are correlated with the surface chemical states of the films through XPS measurements. The annealing ambient is shown to alter the surface chemical states, which, in turn, modulate the electrical characteristics. High-density MIM capacitors are fabricated by using (RF sputtered) Gd2O3, and Gd2O3-Eu2O3 stacked dielectrics. The fabricated Gd2O3 capacitors are also subjected to different anneal conditions, to study their device performance. Although Gd2O3 capacitors provide high capacitance density (15 fF/ m2), they suffer from high leakage current density, high , and poor reliability. Therefore, stacked dielectrics of Gd2O3 and Eu2O3 (Gd2O3/Eu2O3 and Eu2O3/Gd2O3) are fabricated to reduce leakage current density, improve , and improve reliability, with only a marginal reduction in capacitance density, compared to Gd2O3 capacitors. Density of defects and barrier/trap heights are extracted for the fabricated capacitors, and correlated with the device characteristics. High-performance MIM capacitors with bilayer dielectric stacks of (ALD-deposited) TiO2-ZrO2, and Si-doped ZrO2 are characterized. Devices with (ALD-deposited) TiO2/ ZrO2/TiO2 (TZT) and AlO-doped TZT stacks are also characterized. The influence of doping on the device performance is studied. The surface chemical states of the deposited films are analyzed by high-resolution XPS. The structural analysis of the samples is performed by XRD measurements, and this is correlated to the electrical characteristics of the devices. Reliability measurements are performed to study the effects of constant voltage and current stress on device performance. High capacitance density (> 45 fF/ m2), low leakage current density (< 5 10 8 A/cm2 at -1 V, for most devices), and sub-nm EOT are achieved. These parameters exceed the ITRS specifications for DRAM storage capacitors.