This award supports a US-Japan planning visit by Prof. Junghyun Cho and his two team members (doctoral student and postdoctoral researcher) of State University of New York at Binghamton. The foreign hosts are Profs. Jeffrey Cross and Kazuo Shinozaki of Tokyo Institute of Technology. The primary purpose is to identify key research areas and locate available resources to organize an international research team in the area of high k (dielectric constant) oxide films. Profs. Cross and Shinozaki have been working on processing and characterization of electroceramic films for many years. With their expertise combined with Prof. Cho?s interest in microstructure design, the proposed research will explore enabling materials for current innovations in microelectronics. Participating students and researchers at both institutions will benefit from international experiences of the intended research and education, along with the highly specialized, complementary expertise of the collaborating research groups. While in Japan, Prof. Cho?s group will also have a chance to visit other universities, national laboratories, and industrial sectors for additional collaboration opportunities. The collaborative research, once established through this initial visit, will catalyze the long-term international partnership and produce numerous research and educational opportunities for US students and researchers.
