Book excerpt: "Packaging materials, assembly processes, and the detailed understanding of multilayer mechanics have enabled much of the progress in miniaturization, reliability, and functional density achieved by modern electronic, microelectronic, and nanoelectronic products. The design and manufacture of miniaturized packages, providing low-loss electrical and/or optical communication, while protecting the semiconductor chips from environmental stresses and internal power cycling, require a carefully balanced selection of packaging materials and processes. Due to the relative fragility of these semiconductor chips, as well as the underlying laminated substrates and the bridging interconnect, selection of the packaging materials and processes is inextricably bound with the mechanical behavior of the intimately packaged multilayer structures, in all phases of development for traditional, as well as emerging, electronic product categories. The Encyclopedia of Packaging Materials, Processes, and Mechanics, compiled in 8, multi-volume sets, provides comprehensive coverage of the configurations and techniques, assembly materials and processes, modeling and simulation tools, and experimental characterization and validation techniques for electronic packaging. Each of the volumes presents the accumulated wisdom and shared perspectives of leading researchers and practitioners in the packaging of electronic components. The Encyclopedia of Packaging Materials, Processes, and Mechanics will provide the novice and student with a complete reference for a quick ascent on the packaging "learning curve," the practitioner with a validated set of techniques and tools to face every challenge in packaging design and development, and researchers with a clear definition of the state-of-the-art and emerging needs to guide their future efforts. This encyclopedia will, thus, be of great interest to packaging engineers, electronic product development engineers, and product managers, as well as to researchers in the assembly and mechanical behavior of electronic and photonic components and systems. It will be most beneficial to undergraduate and graduate students studying materials, mechanical, electrical, and electronic engineering, with a strong interest in electronic packaging applications"--Publisher's website