Defect states responsible for leakage current in ultrathin (physical thickness <10 nm) tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) films were measured with a novel zero-bias thermally stimulated current technique. It was found that defect states A, whose activation energy was estimated to be about 0.2 eV, can be more efficiently suppressed by using N2O rapid thermal annealing (RTA) instead of using O2 RTA for postdeposition annealing. The leakage current was also smaller for samples with N2O RTA than those with O2 RTA for postdeposition annealing. Hence, defect states A are quite likely to be important in causing leakage current.
Theories and designs are similar. Because they are similar, design researchers in information systems can learn much from the philosophy of science. Neither large data sets nor papers that generate and statistically test theory are necessary for the publication of contributions to the field. Moreover, the philosophy of pragmatism provides a more solid base than logical positivism from which to launch research about design. Future researchers may focus on two potentially fruitful issues: how designers evaluate a design prior to implementation, and how the automation of design in closed loop systems affect our understanding of both creativity and technology.
Information Systems is, in terms of a reference discipline, over thirty years old and is represented by an immense volume of refereed journals and other publications that have developed to chart the rapid development of Information and Communications Technologies. The purpose of this major reference collection is to represent sufficiently the Information Systems field in terms of its range, the quality of the evidence that has been produced, the methods adopted for research, and the practices it has pointed to. Each volume has been compiled by leading international academics with advice from an exceptional editorial board. An introduction to the set was written by the series editors, acclaimed subject specialists Leslie Willcocks and Allen S. Lee. Volume I - Information Systems Infrastructure Volume II - Information Systems Development Volume III - Design Science Theories and Research Practices Volume IV - Management of Information Systems Volume V - Social and Organizational Information Systems Research Volume VI - Information Systems, Globalization and Developing Countries
The notions of significance and relevance have provoked much controversy and confusion among those who conduct and those who are intended to be informed by quantitative research in the information systems (IS) field. The history of quantitative research
The relationship between doing good research and getting the research published is not a causal one. At best, there is a correlation between the quality of a research paper and its being accepted for publication. A research paper's becoming accepted for publication is ultimately a social process, which exists in addition to and is no less important than the content of the paper itself. In this article, I examine how the social process can influence the crafting of a paper for submission to a journal, and re-crafting it in the event that the journal's editor asks for a revision.
A conventional “trends” chapter on qualitative research in information systems (IS) would review the state of the art (the methods and findings) of such research, laud its achievements, criticize its shortcomings, and then specify what it should do in the future to add to its achievements and rectify its shortcomings. However, I will write this chapter unconventionally instead, so that the reader will be able to gain a sense of my own engagement with issues in qualitative IS research. Furthermore, although the editor of this volume originally commissioned me to write a chapter on trends, the chapter has evolved as a critical commentary on qualitative IS research. The chapter’s turn in this direction resulted from the editor’s guidance to me about how to account for the comments of the anonymous reviewers of the initial draft.