1
How to write an IEEE Letter
3.155J/6.152J Fall 2003
Writing Instructors:
Susan Ruff
Thea Singer
2
Microelectronics Letters Journals
IEEE Electron Device Letters
Applied Physics Letters
Available online at libraries.mit.edu
Click on VERA
(Virtual Electronic Resource Access)
3
Lab Report
~10 pages
Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Theory
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Letter (Ma,et al.)
3 pages
Title,Byline,etc
Abstract
Introduction (includes Theory)
Experiment
Results & Discussion
Conclusion
References
4
Focus the Letter,Purpose & Audience
Purpose of your letter:
To evaluate your fabrication process,
(Use MOS C-V to determine whether your process succeeded at
creating a device with the desired characteristics.)
Letters Audience:
Familiar with microelectronics processing
May specialize in a different field
English may not be first language
5
Introduction
Background,Identify gap in current state of the field
Purpose of this work:
Your purpose,To evaluate your fabrication process
6
Experiment
(methods)
Repeatability & context
Past tense,passive voice
You may give overview and use references for details,but
describe ways process deviated from that in references.
7
Results & Discussion
Purpose:,to evaluate your fabrication process”
Measured vs,expected values--what does the difference tell you
about the process?
Support your contentions.
Structure discussion carefully.
Introduce results as needed,You may not need to present all results,
but you must discuss any unexpected results.
8
Conclusion
Summarize most important points.
Your purpose,to evaluate fabrication process.
9
Tables and Figures
Should be able to stand alone--use clear labels,define variables and
give units of measure.
Use captions to point out what you want audience to notice.
Structure to make point clear
Items to be compared should be placed near each other
Remove unnecessary details,like grid lines
10
Title,Byline,Abstract,& References
Title,The title reflects the purpose,To evaluate your fabrication process
Use of Capacitance-Voltage Measurements for
Characterization of a new poly-gate MOS process
Should be specific enough to attract audience
Byline,etc,Give name,e-mail,subject number,professor,lab group,date
Abstract:
“The abstract should be limited to 50–200 words and should concisely state
what was done,how it was done,principal results,and their significance.
The abstract will appear later in various abstracts journals and should contain
the most critical information in the paper.”
—IEEE Information for Authors
References,Use IEEE style.
11
Appendices
Appendix A,Results
Graphs showing the raw data (I-V and C-V curves)
A table summarizing all measured & calculated parameters for easy
comparison,See Professor Schmidt’s slides for the data to include.
Appendix B,Calculations
Show how you obtained the calculated results in Appendix A.
12
Drafting your report
Allow time over several days.
Organize data,compare measured to expected,make and test
conjectures
Make a writing plan
Write
Sleep
Read
Revise
Print & proofread
13
Writing Quality
Concise,but don’t drop articles
“The reason the film was thinner than expected was because…”
Better:,The film was thinner than expected because…”
“The annealing step caused the resistivity to decrease.”
Better:,Annealing decreased the resistivity.”
Easy to read & understand
Goal is not to put words on paper but to communicate to audience,
Read,The Science of Scientific Writing” by Gopen & Swan
14
Writing Help
“The Science of Scientific Writing” by Gopen & Swan
A Google search will generate many hits.
The Writing Center
web.mit.edu/writing
The Mayfield Handbook of Scientific and Technical Writing
3.155J/6.152J Writing Tutors
How to write an IEEE Letter
3.155J/6.152J Fall 2003
Writing Instructors:
Susan Ruff
Thea Singer
2
Microelectronics Letters Journals
IEEE Electron Device Letters
Applied Physics Letters
Available online at libraries.mit.edu
Click on VERA
(Virtual Electronic Resource Access)
3
Lab Report
~10 pages
Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Theory
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Letter (Ma,et al.)
3 pages
Title,Byline,etc
Abstract
Introduction (includes Theory)
Experiment
Results & Discussion
Conclusion
References
4
Focus the Letter,Purpose & Audience
Purpose of your letter:
To evaluate your fabrication process,
(Use MOS C-V to determine whether your process succeeded at
creating a device with the desired characteristics.)
Letters Audience:
Familiar with microelectronics processing
May specialize in a different field
English may not be first language
5
Introduction
Background,Identify gap in current state of the field
Purpose of this work:
Your purpose,To evaluate your fabrication process
6
Experiment
(methods)
Repeatability & context
Past tense,passive voice
You may give overview and use references for details,but
describe ways process deviated from that in references.
7
Results & Discussion
Purpose:,to evaluate your fabrication process”
Measured vs,expected values--what does the difference tell you
about the process?
Support your contentions.
Structure discussion carefully.
Introduce results as needed,You may not need to present all results,
but you must discuss any unexpected results.
8
Conclusion
Summarize most important points.
Your purpose,to evaluate fabrication process.
9
Tables and Figures
Should be able to stand alone--use clear labels,define variables and
give units of measure.
Use captions to point out what you want audience to notice.
Structure to make point clear
Items to be compared should be placed near each other
Remove unnecessary details,like grid lines
10
Title,Byline,Abstract,& References
Title,The title reflects the purpose,To evaluate your fabrication process
Use of Capacitance-Voltage Measurements for
Characterization of a new poly-gate MOS process
Should be specific enough to attract audience
Byline,etc,Give name,e-mail,subject number,professor,lab group,date
Abstract:
“The abstract should be limited to 50–200 words and should concisely state
what was done,how it was done,principal results,and their significance.
The abstract will appear later in various abstracts journals and should contain
the most critical information in the paper.”
—IEEE Information for Authors
References,Use IEEE style.
11
Appendices
Appendix A,Results
Graphs showing the raw data (I-V and C-V curves)
A table summarizing all measured & calculated parameters for easy
comparison,See Professor Schmidt’s slides for the data to include.
Appendix B,Calculations
Show how you obtained the calculated results in Appendix A.
12
Drafting your report
Allow time over several days.
Organize data,compare measured to expected,make and test
conjectures
Make a writing plan
Write
Sleep
Read
Revise
Print & proofread
13
Writing Quality
Concise,but don’t drop articles
“The reason the film was thinner than expected was because…”
Better:,The film was thinner than expected because…”
“The annealing step caused the resistivity to decrease.”
Better:,Annealing decreased the resistivity.”
Easy to read & understand
Goal is not to put words on paper but to communicate to audience,
Read,The Science of Scientific Writing” by Gopen & Swan
14
Writing Help
“The Science of Scientific Writing” by Gopen & Swan
A Google search will generate many hits.
The Writing Center
web.mit.edu/writing
The Mayfield Handbook of Scientific and Technical Writing
3.155J/6.152J Writing Tutors
