The specification teaches a technique for manufacturing microelectronic, microoptoelectronic or micromechanical devices in which a contaminant absorption layer improves the life and operation of the microdevice. The interrupt controllers have interrupt logic adapted for receiving requests for interrupt, activity mode logic adapted for receiving information whether the unit is in non-active mode, and delay control logic adapted for delaying the interrupt to the unit when the received information indicates that the unit is in non-active mode. The process proceeds to determine an amount of contention for access to a candidate file.