IBM

About: IBM is a company organization based out in Armonk, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Layer (electronics) & Signal. The organization has 134567 authors who have published 253905 publications receiving 7458795 citations. The organization is also known as: International Business Machines Corporation & Big Blue.

SU-8: a low-cost negative resist for MEMS

Abstract: This paper describes the characterization of a home-made negative photoresist developed by IBM. This resist, called SU-8, can be produced with commercially available materials. Three blends were prepared for this article and some of its optical and mechanical properties are presented. One of its numerous advantages is the broad range of thicknesses which can be obtained in one spin: from 750 nm to with a conventional spin coater. The resist is exposed with a standard UV aligner and has an outstanding aspect ratio near 15 for lines and 10 for trenches. These ratios combined with the electroplating of copper allow the fabrication of highly integrated electromagnetic coils.

Self-organization in growth of quantum dot superlattices.

Abstract: We investigate the growth of multilayer arrays of coherently strained islands, which may serve as ``quantum dots'' in electronic devices. A simple model reproduces the observed vertical correlation between islands in successive layers. However, the arrangement of islands is not simply repeated from layer to layer. Instead, the island size and spacing grow progressively more uniform. In effect, the structure ``self-organizes'' into a more regular three-dimensional arrangement, providing a possible route to obtain the size uniformity needed for electronic applications of quantum dot arrays.

Deep Blue

Abstract: Deep Blue is the chess machine that defeated then-reigning World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game match in 1997. There were a number of factors that contributed to this success, including: a single-chip chess search engine, a massively parallel system with multiple levels of parallelism, a strong emphasis on search extensions, a complex evaluation function, and effective use of a Grandmaster game database. This paper describes the Deep Blue system, and gives some of the rationale that went into the design decision behind Deep Blue. Copyright 2001 Elsevier B.V.

The WSLA Framework: Specifying and Monitoring Service Level Agreements for Web Services

Abstract: We describe a novel framework for specifying and monitoring Service Level Agreements (SLA) for Web Services. SLA monitoring and enforcement become increasingly important in a Web Service environment where enterprise applications and services rely on services that may be subscribed dynamically and on-demand. For economic and practical reasons, we want an automated provisioning process for both the service itself as well as the SLA managment system that measures and monitors the QoS parameters, checks the agreed-upon service levels, and reports violations to the authorized parties involved in the SLA management process. Our approach to these issues is presented in this paper. The Web Service Level Agreement (WSLA) framework is targeted at defining and monitoring SLAs for Web Services. Although WSLA has been designed for a Web Services environment, it is applicable as well to any inter-domain management scenario, such as business process and service management, or the management of networks, systems and applications in general. The WSLA framework consists of a flexible and extensible language based on XML Schema and a runtime architecture comprising several SLA monitoring services, which may be outsourced to third parties to ensure a maximum of objectivity. WSLA enables service customers and providers to unambiguously define a wide variety of SLAs, specify the SLA parameters and the way they are measured, and relate them to managed resource instrumentations. Upon receipt of an SLA specification, the WSLA monitoring services are automatically configured to enforce the SLA. An implementation of the WSLA framework, termed SLA Compliance Monitor, is publicly available as part of the IBM Web Services Toolkit.