Technological determinism

Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society's technology progresses by following its own internal logic of efficiency, while determining the development of the social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have originated from Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), an American sociologist and economist. The most radical technological determinist in the United States in the 20th century was most likely Clarence Ayres who was a follower of Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey. William Ogburn was also known for his radical technological determinism and his theory on cultural lag. The first major elaboration of a technological determinist view of socioeconomic development came from the German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, who argued that changes in technology, and specifically productive technology, are the primary influence on human social relations and organizational structure, and that social relations and cultural practices ultimately revolv

Integration of Engineered Source and Drain Extensions in Double Gate Mosfet with Sub-32nm Channel Length

Jyotshna Bhandari

Since the advent of CMOS technology, the semiconductor industry has been successful in achieving continuously improved performance. The feature size of the most important electronic device, the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET), has already be reduced from about 10 µm to sub 100 nm regime during the last 30 years. The enormous miniaturization and integration of MOSFET devices has made possible a dramatic development in microelectronics. However, many challenges exit and have to be addressed to achieve sub-30 nm devices: increased Source/Drain (S/D) resistances, excessive gate oxide leakage and deteriorated device performance due to short channel effects (SCE). In order to keep Moore's Law living, device scaling down is not any more enough. To keep pace with scaling several technological booster have been introduced such as SiGe or Metallic material for S/D, high-k dielectric as a gate material, SOI or strained silicon for channel material and multi gate architecture. Double Gate (DG) architecture is believed to be used for beyond 22 nm node because of its advantage in terms of preserving the electrostatic integrity. The key issue introduced by DG is misalignment which can be overcome by fabricating self aligned structure. However this device suffers from the series resistance. Hence S/D can be engineered either by introducing new material like SiGe or Ge (Band gap engineering) or silicidation induced Dopant Segregation (DS). In both case, current can be improved by enhanced carrier injection from source to channel and reducing series resistance. This thesis includes the method to integrate the S/D in DG structure. We start with identifying the conditions (implantation and annealing) to achieve high active dopants in thin film S/D and SiGe integrated S/D. In additions to this, means to implant the extension in scaled devices are explored. In the second step, the processes and conditions are developed for etching, epitaxy and silicidation. It is demonstrated that contact resistivity down to 0.1 Ω.µm2 can be obtained by integrating PtSi S/D suitable for p-MOSFETs. The final DG devices after integrating S/D are characterized and analyzed. The electric potential of the architecture DG in terms of control of SCE and mobility are exploited. The transport mechanism (Thermionic or Tunneling) is understood by performing the static device measurement at low (77 °K) to high (363 °K) temperatures. Schottky barrier heights of as low as 0.1eV and access resistance of 250 Ω.µm are demonstrated with our proposed and fabricated devices, thanks to DS metallic S/D. These results can be considered as being at the level of the state of the art for metallic S/D device today.

EPFL2011

“Methodological Criss-Crossing”: A Mixed Methods Ethnography of a Digital Library

Simon François Dumas Primbault

At the crossroads of the ethnography of scholarly practices and digital humanities, this study proposes to consider the exploratory aspect of the scientific activity as an intellectual path through a corpus made accessible by an online platform. My case study focuses on the reading paths of Gallica users by combining a qualitative approach—semi-directive interviews and research situations—with a quantitative approach—the analysis of one year of server logs of the platform by extracting paths, modelling them by Markov chains, and identifying typical paths by topological analysis of the data. This method shows the great complementarity of the qualitative approach and the quantitative approach: by confronting the material conditions of the possibilities of navigation with its real material practices of appropriation, in specific social and cultural contexts, this project strikes a middle ground between technological determinism and constructivism. This exploratory study has led to promising results on the navigation of researchers within the Dewey classification, on the role of “pivotal literature” in moving from one discipline to another, and on a first sketch of a variety of “regimes of navigation” grouped according to their topological characteristics. These initial results have made it possible to document in detail the intricacy of material practices and virtual interfaces, as well as the navigation strategies developed by the researchers, which testify to their desire to find “original branches”. I have therefore been able to highlight the non-linearity and indeterminacy of scholarly practices and the fundamental nature of navigation as an orientation practice. But such an understanding of digital libraries as spaces, and their navigation, must not be without a strong epistemological and methodological critique. Recognising, on the one hand, the reification—or the effet de reel—produced by visual representation, digital libraries cannot be considered as uncharted territories just waiting to be mapped. Distrusting, on the other hand, the renewed fantasies of a “cyberspace” that could be constructed from scratch, I would like to argue that it is possible to find a middle way between the referential illusion and the demiurgic fantasy and, in this dehiscence, to deploy a practical use of cartography as an object that performs a space of knowledge, but that performs it under constraint and in a critical and reflexive way.

2022

“Methodological Criss-Crossing”: A Mixed Methods Ethnography of a Digital Library

Simon François Dumas Primbault

2022

Integration of Engineered Source and Drain Extensions in Double Gate Mosfet with Sub-32nm Channel Length

Jyotshna Bhandari

EPFL2011

Moving Beyond the Technological Neutrality Myth: the ICTs and Power in Public Administrations

Integration of Engineered Source and Drain Extensions in Double Gate Mosfet with Sub-32nm Channel Length

“Methodological Criss-Crossing”: A Mixed Methods Ethnography of a Digital Library

“Methodological Criss-Crossing”: A Mixed Methods Ethnography of a Digital Library

Moving Beyond the Technological Neutrality Myth: the ICTs and Power in Public Administrations

Integration of Engineered Source and Drain Extensions in Double Gate Mosfet with Sub-32nm Channel Length