A comprehensive review article titled “Chemical Mechanical Planarization for Microelectronic Materials” by Parshuram B. Zantye, Ashok Kumar and Arun Sikder has been published in Volume 45, issue 3-6 of Materials Science and Engineering-R (Reports).  Materials Science and Engineering-R is a very prestigious and highly rated journal in the field of Materials Science.  The Journal Citation Reports (JCR)-2003 gives an impact factor of 10.032 to Materials Science and Engineering Reports-R (impact factor of Nature is 30.979). The article is currently available online on the journal web site.             

The paper, ‘Characterization of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ Thin Films for DRAM Applications’ was presented as invited talk by  Ashok Kumar, Sriraj G. Manavalan at 2^nd International Conference on Thin Film 2004 and Nanotech 2004, July 13-17, 2004, Singapore

The paper, “Nanoscale Silicon Microcavity DNA Biosensor”,  was presented by Arun Kumar,  Souheil Zekri, Shree R Singh and Ashok Kumar at 2^nd International Conference on Thin Film 2004 and Nanotech 2004, July 13-17, 2004, Singapore 

The paper, “Study of Interfacial Properties of Multilayered Thin Films for Cu Interconnects Applications”, was presented by Parshuram B. Zantye, Arun K. Sikder, and Ashok Kumar at  2^nd International Conference on Thin Film 2004 and Nanotech 2004, July 13-17, 2004, Singapore 

The paper, “Tribological Issues and Modeling of Removal Behavior of the Doped and Undoped SiO₂ Interlayer Dielectric Planarization” was  presented by A. K. Sikder, Swetha Thagella, Parshuram Zantye Ashok Kumar  and Jiro Yota, at MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

The paper, “Structural and Electrical Properties of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ Thin Films for Tunable Microwave Applications”, was presented by Sriraj .G. Manavalan, A.K. Sikder, Ashok Kumar and  T. Weller at MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

The paper, “Effect of Annealing on the Structural, Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Electroplated Cu Thin Films” was presented by P. Shukla, P. Zantye, A. K. Sikder, Ashok Kumar and Mahesh Sanganaria,  at MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

The paper, “Investigation of the Interfacial Adhesion and its Correlation with Chemical Mechanical Polishing for Various Low-k and Cu-low k Multi-layered Thin Films” was presented by Parshuram B. Zantye, Arun K. Sikder, and Ashok Kumar at MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

The paper, “Non-destructive Evaluation Method For Psiloquest’s Application Specific Pads (ASP) For CMP Applications” was presented by Parshuram B. Zantye, Arun K. Sikder, Ashok Kumar and Yaw Obeng at  MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

The paper, “Evaluation of the Tribological Properties and Wear Rate of Different Semiconductor Grade Plastic Materials for Contact Retaining Ring Application” was presented by William G. Easter, Parshuram Zantye, Arun K Sikder and Ashok Kumar    at  MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,  April 12-16, (2004)

Sadiya Hassan presented a poster at AVS (Florida Chapter) & Florida Society for Microscopy Joint Sym., Orlando, (2004) on “Quality Evaluation of the Slurries used in Chemical Mechanical Polishing” and got second prize.

Brian Brantly presented a poster at AVS (Florida Chapter) & Florida Society for Microscopy Joint Sym., Orlando, (2004) on “Solid State Gas sensor For Ammonia Detection Based on Polyaniline Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes and TiO2” and got third prize.

Thomas Gressle presented a poster at AVS (Florida Chapter) & Florida Society for Microscopy Joint Sym., Orlando, (2004) on “, “Sol-Gel and Carbon Nanotubes Based Microelectrode fro Simultaneous Detection of Glucose and Insulin” and got honorable mention.

Mr. Daniel Braley (Advisse: Dr. Kumar), NSF funded REU student, presented a paper in the Biomaterials poster session at the Inspire Conference and he  receive  first place and $400 cash prize.

The paper, Integration Issues in Cu-interconnects, Parshuram
Zantye, A. K. Sikder, A. Kumar, was presented at 204 th ECS Meeting, October 2003, Orlando, FL

The paper, Evaluation of the Properties of Polyurethane Pads and their Correlation to the Performance in the CMP Process, Parshuram Zantye,A. K. Sikder, A. Kumar, A. Belyaev, I. Tarasov, S. Ostapenko and Julie Harmon, was presented at 204 th ECS Meeting, October 2003, Orlando, FL

The paper, Nanocrystalline diamond Thinfilms for Tools and Other Applications, Z. Xu,A. K. Sikder, A. Kumar, was presented at 204 th ECS Meeting, October 2003, Orlando, FL

Dr. Ashok Kumars advisee, Nivedita Gulati, an undergraduate
student from Department of Mechanical Engineering, wins the first prize in College of Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) student poster competition, April 2003

The paper,Evaluation of mechanical and tribological properties of ultra-low k dielectric materials for their integration in Cu damascene structures, Parshuram Zantye, A. K. Sikder and A. Kumar, presented at MRS Spring Meeting, 2003, San Francisco, CA

The paper, Delamination behavior of Cu-low-k stack under different slurries, A. K. Sikder, P. Zantye, S. Thagella and Ashok Kumar, presented at MRS Spring Meeting, 2003, San Francisco, CA

The paper, Polishing behavior of interlayer films in Cu damascene process with different barrier and Cu selective slurries, A. K. Sikder,Parshuram Zantye and Ashok Kumar, presented at MRS Spring Meeting, 2003, San Francisco, CA

The paper, Study of slurry selectivity and endpoint detection in
Cu CMP process, P.B. Zantye, A. K. Sikder, N. Gulati and Ashok Kumar,  presented at CMPMIC Conf., March 2003, Los Angeles, CA

The paper, Delamination studies in Cu-ultra low-k stack,
A. K. Sikder, P. Zantye, S. Thagella and Ashok Kumar, B. Michael
Vinogradov, and Norm V. Gitis, presented at CMPMIC Conf. March 2003, LA

Poster, Study of Tribological Properties and Modeling of Removal Rate of Low-k Films in Chemical Mechanical Planarization by Swetha Thagella, presented at AVS/FMS Symposium, March 2003 at Orlando, FL, wins the second prize in student poster competition

Poster, Analysis of the Defects during the Implementation of Cu-Ultra low-k Damascene Structures by Parshuram Zantye, presented at AVS/FMS Symposium, March 2003, Orlando, FL, wins an honorable mention in student poster competition