An excellent review of these materials entitled 

 "Polyphosphazenes: New Polymers with Inorgan- 

 ic Backbone Atoms" hy H. R. Allcock may be 

 found in Science, 193. 1214 (1976), which also 

 lists the original references pertaining to this re- 

 search. 



Enzymatic Saccharification of Waste Cellulose 

 to Glucose for Production of Useful Products 



Cellulose, the most abundant organic material 

 on earth, is used by man in industry, for structur- 

 al purposes, textiles, and paper, but it does not 

 serve as food for man or most animals. Research 

 at the Army Natick laboratories on the decompo- 

 sition of cellulosic materials by microorganisms 

 has paved the way for the enzymatic breakdown 

 of cellulose into a simple sugar-glucose. This pro- 

 cess can have a significant impact on problems of 

 the future relating to foods, energy, and chemical 

 feed stocks, as shown by the following examples: 



• Production of glucose from cellulosic waste. 

 The glucose can be used directly as food for 

 man and animals, or indirectly through the 

 production of food yeasts. 



• Improvement of texture, digestibility, and 

 nutritive value of foods. 



• Release of desirable products from plant tis- 

 sues. Such products include leaf protein, 

 drugs, essential oils, natural insecticides, ol- 

 ive oil, rubber, and agar. 



• Use of the glucose as a chemical feed stock 

 for the synthesis of diverse chemicals now 

 utilizing petroleum as a raw material. 



The following pamphlet reviews the work and 

 includes published references: Ed. Mary Man- 

 dels, Edwin Reese, and Leo A. Spano, Enzymat- 

 ic Conversion of Cellulosic Materials: Technology 

 and Applications. 1976. An Interscience Publica- 

 tion. 



Electron-beam (e-beam) Resist Materials for 

 Integrated Circuits 



In the Electronics Technology and Devices 

 Laboratory at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, Drs. 

 E. H. Poindexter and J.N. Helbert (in collabora- 

 tion with Professor L. Kevan at Wayne State 

 University) have been concerned with improving 

 a beam-resist writing speed by factors of about 20 

 to 30, and attacking this problem at the most basic 

 chemical level. The first approach was a systemat- 

 ic substitution of chemical groups along the main 

 chain molecules of certain polymers, selected ini- 

 tially on the basis of potential applications tracta- 

 bility. Functional substituents such as halogens 

 and cyanides were introduced to favor chain scis- 

 sion and discourage subsequent polymer self- 

 healing via cross-linking. For. this basic radiation 



60 DEFENSE 



chemistry, the techniques of electron spin reso- 

 nance, viscometry, membrane osmometry, and 

 gel-permeation chromatography were used to as- 

 sess polymer degradation, i.e., sensitivity to the 

 e-beam radiation. In addition, the physical chem- 

 istry of the resist solvent was studied by a imique 

 low-field dynamic nuclear polarization technique. 

 By these methods, basic science was brought \o 

 hear on a problem area heretofore treated largely 

 on an empirical basis. 



The program has so far resulted in discovery of 

 several resists of substantially greater sensitivity, 

 and in new solvent developers which have a very 

 high difl"erential dissolution ratio for further en- 

 hanced lithographic performance. The chlorinated 

 resists developed from this research have an in- 

 herent e-beam sensitivity almost as great as the 

 sulfone resists developed at Bell Labs, but are 

 much more stable and tractable for use in produc- 

 tion. In contrast to the sulfones, these resists are 

 compatible with advanced radiation processing 

 methods and have been adopted for production 

 testing by Texas Instruments. Other potential in- 

 dustrial users (both in this country and abroad) 

 have also expressed an interest in them. 



The essential aspects of the program have been 

 documented in eight technical papers, of which 

 three are: 



Increased Radiation Degradation m Methyl Melhacrylale t'o- 

 polymers. J. Appl. Polymer Sci. /y. 1201 (\')7^) 



Matrix KNDOR of Polyenvl Radicals in Polymers. J. Polymer 

 Sci. (Polymer Physics Ed.) ';.!.s:.S (197.'!) 



Poly(methyl a-chloroacrylate) as a New Positive Electron- 

 Beam Resist, J. Electrochem Soc 124. I5S (1977) 



Pressure Oxidation of Silicon 



Silicon, the principal semiconductor material 

 used in the manufacture of discrete and integrated 

 circuit components, must be subjected to a con- 

 ventional high-temperature (l,20fl°C) thermal oxi- 

 dation during device fabrication. It was widely 

 recognized that high temperature induces structur- 

 al defects and results in lower yield, performance, 

 and reliability of the final device, and raises prac- 

 tical problems of device reproducibility and high 

 cost. There has been strong motivation within the 

 semiconductor industry for more than a decade to 

 develop a lower temperature oxidation method for 

 silicon integrated circuit devices, but a satisfacto- 

 ry process was not found. 



An experimental system was designed and 

 completed at the U. S. Army Electronics Tech- 

 nology and Devices Laboratory in which silicon 

 wafers were successfully oxidized at 800°C (4(K)°C 

 lower than standard oxidation) and a pressure of 

 2,(X)0 psi of oxygen (within commercial bottle-gas 

 range). Scanning electron microscopy showed the 

 oxide layers to be structurally homogeneous and 



