­In the era of big data, min/max searching from bulk data arrays is one of the most important and widely used fundamental operations in data-intensive applications such as sorting, ranking, bioinformatics, data mining, graph processing, and route planning. Online news and social media require real-time ranking using fast min/max searching from...

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, the substrate, usually Silicon, is oxidized to form an oxide layer at the surface prior to device fabrication. This oxide layer (such as SiO2 grown on a Si (100)) surface typically grows completely amorphous with little ordering in the first atomic layers near the interface. This can lead to thickness and...

Many different graphic file formats are used for storing graphics: JPEG, TIF, GIF, etc. Highly desirable characteristic for all still digital image compression formats are quality and compression size. JPEG 2000 was developed as an open, ISO compliant technology that improved upon the JPEG file format. With the increased use in digital imaging technology...

Recently, efforts have been made to obtain larger capacitance values in capacitors of semiconductor devices using noble metals such as ruthenium (Ru), platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), and osmium (Os) as a lower electrode or an upper electrode of a capacitor. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is often used to deposit this metal over the entire wafer surface....