Foreword: Design of materials for electronic applications

Summary form only given, as follows. All electronic components and devices are built from materials. The designer however, is primarily concerned with circuit design and, in general, little concerned about whether the material construction is face-centered cubic or hexagonal close packed. Unfortunately, the material properties (as crystal structure) are critical at times, and many a design failure is attributed to "lousy materials." Ideally, we should design materials as well as circuits, but practically few of us have time or interest to delve into all the aspects of a component construction. For that we rely on materials and other specialists to help us out of trouble. This issue of the TRANSACTIONS is intended for designers, and published with the intent of providing some background on materials. The articles proceed from thick film basic compositions, through thin film materials, from passive to active devices to bonding of the devices, and conclude with a description of a component requiring special materials considerations. We hope this issue provides meaningful information. Comments on the contents of this issue and suggestions for subsequent materials issues would be appreciated so we can organize papers to fit your needs. Please send any suggestions to one of the guest editors.