Talk Title:  Molecular Engineering of π-Functional Conjugated Materials for Photonics, Electronics, and Sensing

Abstract: Next generation active electronic materials used in devices are undergoing continual improvements to generate devices that are high performance, lighter, flexible, stretchable, and more energy efficient with lower cost. Carbon based novel solution processable π-functional conjugated materials are the focus of intense academic and industrial research since they are important class of soft materials for large area electronics including transistors, displays, sensors and light harvesting devices. The active organic semiconducting materials are emerging due to their tunable light absorption/emission, interesting charge transport properties, relatively adequate HOMO-LUMO energies and ink formulation capability.
In my talk, I will explain the various classes of conjugated carbon-based materials either as polymers, small molecules or quantum dots prepared via chemically and electrochemically using various novel aromatic conjugated building blocks. In this presentation, the design, synthesis, optoelectronic properties, and device performance of novel advanced materials for field effect/electrochemical transistors, perovskite solar cells, light emitting diodes, optical sensors and various sensing devices will be discussed. Such materials and devices have great potential in future electronics, energy, health, and environmental monitoring.

Talk Title: Modeling and Design of Superjunctions in Silicon Carbide

Abstract: Superjunctions yield a lower specific on-resistance, RONSP, for a given breakdown voltage, than conventional p-n junctions. We derive (a) a new theoretical lower limit of RONSP for an ideal balanced superjunction that is 30 % lower than prior works, (b) closed-form design equations for a practical superjunction considering process variations for the first time, and show that the optimum p-pillar aspect ratio is < 15 whereas prior works have tried raising this ratio beyond 25. We also propose charge sheet superjunction as a viable alternative to superjunction in SiC material to avoid complexities associated with fabrication of p-pillars in SiC.

Talk Title: Silicon and silicon nitride photonics for sensing and communicaiton 

Abstract: In this talk, we shall discuss the strategies to integrate silicon and silicon nitride to create a broadband photonics platform. We shall discuss material requirement, device design, fabrication challenges and measurement results of detectors for potential sensor and high-speed communication applications. 

Talk Title: Investigation and Comparison of Deep Acceptors in β-Ga2O3 using Defect Spectroscopies

Abstract: Steven A. Ringel(1), Hemant Ghadi(1), Joe F McGlone(1), Alexander Senckowski(2), Shivam Sharma(3), Man Hoi Wong(2) and Uttam Singisetti(3)
(1) Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,
(2) Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Massachusetts,
(3) Electrical Engineering, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
Beta phase gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a strong contender for next-generation high voltage and RF device applications. A key component of such devices is a semi-insulating, highly resistive buffer layer or substrate. To date, iron (Fe) has been the preferred acceptor impurity to achieve semi-insulating β-Ga2O3. Iron produces an energy level at EC-0.8 eV, which has been substantiated by theoretical and experimental studies and enables highly resistive material. However, it has also been shown that residual Fe impurities can result in device switching instabilities since the Fermi level can modulate the occupancy of the Fe trap state during standard biasing conditions. While progress to mitigate the impact of residual Fe impurities has occurred, there is also interest in exploring acceptors with much deeper energy levels to avoid device instabilities. Magnesium (Mg) and nitrogen (N) have emerged as candidates based on their predicted energy levels of EC-3.3 eV and EC-2.8 eV, respectively (H. Peelaers, et al., APL Mater. 7, 022519, 2019). This presentation will compare each acceptor, with a primary focus on N, using deep level optical spectroscopy (DLOS) and thermally based deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS).
Here, N acceptors were introduced into HVPE-grown β-Ga2O3 by ion implantation. A uniform N-implantation profile was used targeting multiple doses in different samples, followed by an activation anneal. DLTS and DLOS measurements were applied before and after annealing. After implantation, multiple trap states appeared, most of which were removed by annealing, leaving a single, new state at EC-2.9 eV, with a Frank-Condon energy of 1.4 eV. The concentration of this state monotonically tracked with nitrogen concentration from SIMS. This energy level closely matches predicted values for an acceptor-like defect due to nitrogen atoms occupying the oxygen III sites, determined by density functional theory (DFT) calculations (H. Peelaers, et al., APL Mater. 7, 022519, 2019; Y.K. Frodason, et al. J. Appl. Phys. 127, 075701, 2020), The much deeper energy compared with Fe could imply a significantly lower operational instability than the shallower Fe acceptor at EC-0.8 eV. However, we found that the below midgap position of the NO(III) level, coupled with its small optical cross-section, complicates the trap concentration analysis by DLOS, which is important for understanding how to characterize very deep states in β-Ga2O3. Simultaneous hole emission to the valence band and electron emission to the conduction band was seen. Similar challenges might be present for Mg doping as well. The impact of this behavior on DLOS analysis is discussed, and a method to resolve this complication will be presented, which is needed to guide further optimization of this critical step in gallium oxide device development.

Talk Title: Not given 

Abstract: Over the last 20years or so the industry scale path has seen many transitions to enable what each preceding generation of technology thought was impossible. New technology becomes possible with the addition of patterning techniques that help enable each generation of smaller designs. This talk will go through some of the enabling technologies and how the industry of chip making made breakthrough after breakthrough to truly enable parts to be printed at dimensions and geometries far more exotic than any could have imagined. We will take a look at the recent history of technology scaling enablers and how they shaped the industries roadmaps and understanding of scaling. 

Talk Title: Error mitigation and the path to quantum advantage

Abstract: Quantum processors based on superconducting circuits have now reached a scale that is well beyond direct diagonalization. However, in the absence of fault tolerance, the central question is whether such noisy processors can provide useful computations. In this context, error mitigation techniques can provide access to noise-free observables even from today’s noisy processors. I will introduce these techniques, discuss the current state of quantum hardware and recent experimental results, and chart out an immediately accessible path to quantum computational advantage.

Talk Title: Hydrogel based sensors for medical diagnostic applications

Abstract: Synthetically fabricated hydrogel particles are increasingly used for bio sensing applications. Newly developed techniques allow fabrication of hydrogels with different morphologies, spatially segregated functionalization and tuned material properties. Hydrogel sensors embedded inside microfluidic devices have a number of advantages including multiplexing, good stability and low non-specific binding. The talk will discuss hydrogel sensor capabilities on Achira’s point-of-care platform. 

Talk Title: MEMS Physical Sensors with Integrated FET based Electromechanical Transduction

Abstract: MEMS sensors and devices have numerous applications spanning across consumer gadgets, automotive electronics, industrial medical, defence, aerospace etc. Despite the wide and increasing demands for MEMS-based devices such as sensors and actuators in diverse applications, unlike semiconductor technologies like CMOS/VLSI, the design and fabrication of MEMS/Microsystems is not fully standardized. Most of the commercially available MEMS sensors are based on passive transduction mechanisms such as capacitive or piezoresistive with inherent performance limitations. FET based active transduction schemes have the potential to overcome these limitations with ease in CMOS-MEMS integration as an additional merit. This talk would give a brief overview of our attempts towards indigenous development of MEMS physical sensors with FET based electromechanical transduction with scope for CMOS-MEMS integration. 

Talk Title: A novel approach for recycling of waste silicon solar photovoltaic modules: A step to promote circular economy

Abstract: With the average lifespan of a solar module being 25-30 years, it is predicted that the cumulative waste generated globally would be around 78 million tonnes by 2050. Hence, developing a process for the recycling of this solar waste is crucial to prevent environmental pollution and to recover valuable materials. It is important that the end-of-life of solar modules should stay green to maintain the circular economy. Our work is focused on the recovery of valuable materials from spent crystalline silicon solar modules by a combination of physical, chemical, and thermal operations to de-laminate the modules and purify the materials. Through this process, an economically viable method was established to recover high pure silicon along with other components such as glass, copper etc.

Talk Title: From Enhanced Responsivity to Deep Sensing: Advances in Light Detection

Abstract: 

The emergence of 2D layered compounds has ameliorated the fields of electronic and optoelectronic devices and are considered as a promising platform for the developments of devices in the quantum era. To list a few examples, this progress has included the demonstrations of ultrafast photodetectors, room-temperature mid-infrared photodetection, and electrical tunable spectral response by Stark effect. In this talk the recent progress on combined trajectories will be discussed – including fast, room temperature short wave infrared detection of hot photo carriers by intercalated MoS2 and a few examples on the electrical control of spectral response in photodetectors of 2D materials and heterostructures. Finally, the use of computational resources for the performance of spectral measurements, termed “Deep Sensing”, will be shortly reviewed.

References

[1] A. Twitto et al. ACS Nano 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c07347

[2] C. Stern et al. Advanced Materials 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202008779

[3] S. Yuan et al. Nature Photonics 2021 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00787-x

Talk Title: Radio Frequency Micromachined Devices and Circuits for Microwave to millimeter Wave Applications

Abstract: When radio frequency microelectromechanical system (RF MEMS) based switches appeared more than 25 years ago, micromechanics have attracted huge attention for enabling near-ideal microwave devices. Since then, MEMS switches and circuits went through different development stages and are currently proving themselves commercially. Micromachining technology has the potential to become an enabling technology for microwave, millimeterwave to even sub-millimeterwave systems. Although, reliability of MEMS devices is one of the prime challenge to meet present state-of-the-art performances due to occurrence of multiple failure modes after few cycles of operations. This reliability becomes more critical when multiple MEMS switches operate simultaneously like in a multi-bit digital phase shifters. First phase primarily concentrates on the reliability improvements on MEMS based switching networks and digital phase shifters. It takes multiple iterations and extensive characterizations to conclude with a reliable MEMS phase shifters. Second phase briefly presents development of tunable bandpass filters utilizing MEMS switches for present 5G applications. Third phase briefly shows the potential of micromachined antennas for phased array networks. Finally, present webinar concludes with current research activities of RF MEMS in sub-millimeterwave regime. 

Talk Title: Modeling, simulation and applications of engineered TFETs

Abstract:  The tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) has drawn considerable attentions for future generation low-power VLSI/ULSI applications due to its extremely low sub-threshold current and good switching characteristics. The TFET possesses low sub-threshold swing below the Boltzmann limit of 60 mV/decade of the bulk MOSFETs. However, the major drawback of the TFET is its very poor ON current. Several techniques have been introduced to improve the performance of the TFETs through various structural modifications. The present talk will introduce the performance analysis of some engineered TFET structures via theoretical modelling and commercially available TCAD simulations. Finally, some applications of the engineered TFETs in the SRAM design and level-free bio-sensors will also be discussed.

Talk Title: Multiphysics Modeling of Wide Bandgap Devices

Abstract:  The design and analysis of electronic devices increasingly demand ‘multi-physics’ modeling. In this context, that most commonly means we have to incorporate the physics of thermal, mechanical or other effects in additional to the usual, viz. electron transport plus electrostatics. In this talk, I will go through the following three case studies, drawn from our work, on multi-physics simulation of wide bandgap semiconductor devices. First, the effects of substrate thinning on GaN HEMT performance. Second, the incorporation of mechanical strain for performance enhancement in SiC power MOSFETs. And third, the electro-thermal modeling of their short-circuit capability.

Talk Title: State of art TADF OLEDs Fabrication Cluster Tool with Novel Charge Transport Layers.

Abstract:  Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have become a choice of light element for small area display devices and progressing for large area and lighting solutions. With advancement in emissive materials, a lot of emphasize is given to novel thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) based compounds. In general, these devices are multilayer structure with typical thickness of layers in the range of 5nm – 30 nm and require a good control on uniformity and compactness. We developed an indigenous multi-chamber cluster tool to make state-of-art OLEDs, with semi-automation approach. I will share design and results of devices made using this tool which consists of novel charge transport layers for OLED structure with a promise of improved performance in terms of stability and reduced leakage currents.

Talk Title: Advanced Power Devices Packaging

Abstract:  Si-MOSFET/IGBT finds wide application in personal computers, servers, micro-inverters, motor-drives, telecom systems, etc. Advent of WBG semiconductor technology has not been able to replace the Si Technology. However, due to the aggressive needs of the power management systems in terms of higher power-density, lower parasitic-inductance, lower thermal-resistance, Si semiconductor industry is still going through innovations to keep the performance of devices at optimum level.
Recent improvements in Si-device packaging technology have significantly optimized device parameters and figure-of-merits (RDS(ON)*Qg, Qrr, Esw). Furthermore, with the increase in system current requirements, optimization of these device parameters become important which resulted in advent of packages like DPAK, D2PAK, SO-8, CopperStrapTM SO-8, PowerPakTM, LFPAKTM, DirectFETTM, TOLL, sTOLL, etc. This talk will elaborate the evolution and trends in packaging technologies for achieving better device characteristics which can enable high performance product designs for automotive, energy, data center applications.

Talk Title: Flip chip bonding of integrated circuits

Abstract:  Flip chip bonding is used to connect semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) etc. with external circuitry or another integrated circuit using metal bumps deposited on the chip pads. This technology is quite common in high density interconnections in mega pixel focal plane array sensors. It can be utilized for getting millions of connections among the cells of a power MOSFET using micro bump array. A method of estimating the interconnection yield and connection reliability using daisy chain and fanout pattern on transparent substrates has been implemented. The results have been used for analysis and optimization of flip chip process.

Talk Title: New market segments enabled by far-UVC technologies

Abstract:  Part of the ultraviolet spectrum from 200 nm to 230 nm wavelength, called far-UVC, is highly absorbed by proteins in the superficial inactive cells of the skin and eyes. This allows for direct exposure of far-UVC at effective doses for pathogen deactivation.
UV Medico develops and produces far-UVC solutions. Our products have the advantage of being suitable for continuous disinfection of both the air and surfaces in occupied spaces. As such, far-UVC has a broader application area than conventional germicidal UV light sources which damage living cells. The latter are restricted to applications without direct human exposure, such as upper room ventilation systems and disinfection robots.
Research on far-UVC has recently triggered a movement to increase exposure limits and adapt regulations accordingly. With the progressive adherence of regulatory agencies, new applications are enabled. This presentation will focus on the food industry as an example of the diverse application field.

Talk Title: Options towards high frequency and high power density in Silicon MOS-Bipolar devices

Abstract:  Driven largely by the electrification of transport agenda, there is a major thrust world-wide to develop advanced power semiconductor device technologies in Wide Bandgap Semiconductor device technologies and in Silicon. This talk will primarily address key advances in Silicon MOS-Bipolar device technologies to achieve high frequency and high-power densities, to maintain its competitiveness against advances in SiC technologies.

Talk Title: Electrostatic Engineering for High-Performance Wide and Ultra-Wide Bandgap Electronic Devices

Abstract:  In this presentation, we will review recent work on the integration of high permittivity dielectrics with wide and and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor devices to obtain improved high power and high frequency performance. 

Talk Title: Enabling Technologies for Low-Cost mmWave SATCOM Terminals

Abstract:  mmWave 5G has received a lot of attention due to its ability to deliver extremely high data rates to the user, while also posing challenges to the designer related to the need for large-scale arrays, high-power and high-efficiency power amplifiers, and advanced mmWave packaging. However, over the past year or two, there has been a significant rise in the interest in mmWave SATCOM, driven by the lowering of the barrier to launch satellites into orbit. SATCOM ground terminals, however, pose challenges that are akin to those posed by 5G on steroids – the arrays are 10x larger in size, amplifier efficiency is even more important, <2dB LNA noise figure is required, and electromagnetic, mechanical and thermal packaging challenges are even more severe. This presentation will touch upon various enabling technologies for mmWave SATCOM ground terminals – RF-SOI technologies, high-power high-efficiency mmWave PA design, extremely-low-NF LNA design, and scalable multi-beamforming.

Talk Title: Two-Dimensional Material-based Higher-Order Neuromorphic Computing with Dynamic Weights

Abstract:  The increasing complexity of deep learning systems has pushed conventional computing technologies to their limits. While memristor is one of the prevailing technologies for deep learning acceleration, it is only suited for classical learning layers where two operands, namely weights and inputs, are processed at a time. Meanwhile, to improve the computational efficiency of deep learning for emerging applications, a variety of non-traditional layers, requiring concurrent processing of many operands, are becoming popular. For example, hypernetworks improve their predictive robustness by simultaneously processing weights and inputs against the application context. Two-electrode memristor grids cannot natively support such operations of emerging layers. Addressing the unmet need, this talk discusses two-dimensional material-based neuron and synapses that can be controlled by multiple gate terminals. Thus, exploiting crossbar’s gate controllability, multiple operands could be concurrently processed within the same crossbar. Many advanced inference architectures that can generalize beyond a typical passive crossbar thus become possible. Overall, the ultra-low-power, higher-order processing capacity of the discussed gate-tunable crossbars and neurons harnesses high robustness and efficiency of emerging deep learning layers within area/power-constrained devices such as mobile, sensor, and embedded systems.

Talk Title: RF Modeling challenges for emerging technologies

Abstract:  With both evolutionary and disruptive changes in standards for wireless communications, the prediction of device behavior under regular and extreme conditions has become critical for designers to get first time right products. It’s no longer enough to be accurate in current, voltage and transconductance predictions but it’s a need to predict non-linearities accurately as well. We will talk about some of these challenges in this talk.

Talk Title: PDK Development – Philosophy and Best Practices

Abstract:  In an enterprise environment, designers consume and build on technology information using the Process Development Kit (PDK). In this tutorial we will cover the PDK development flow, consumables that go into the PDK and philosophy and design practices that are associated with building the PDK. This tutorial will give an umbrella view of the PDK and unique aspects of building PDK for different technologies.

Talk Title: Integrating silicon driver with GaN transistor simplifies power system design and enhances performance

Abstract:  GaN (Gallium Nitride) transistors can switch at much higher rate as compared to Silicon MOSFETs while bringing in advantages of lower switching losses and reduce system size. However, switching at higher slew rate poses challenges in terms of switching performance due to parasitic common-source inductances. This presentation talks about advantages of integrating silicon driver with the GaN FET in an integrated package to optimize the gate loop to enable excellent switching performance at slew rates above 100V/ns. In addition, the package integrates protection features like over current/short circuit protection and monitoring junction temperature to simplify power converter designs.

Talk Title: Challenges in Electronic Design Automation in modern technologies

Abstract:  Challenges in Electronic Design Automation in modern technologies

Talk Title: Reliable STT-MRAM Technology for Advanced MCU & IOT Applications

Abstract:  In the on-going era of artificial intelligence, IoT and autonomous vehicles, the semiconductor industry has actively been developing emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies. Spin-Transfer-Torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) technology has proven to be a viable NVM technology solution to replace embedded flash in advanced microcontroller and microprocessor units. In this talk, the status of 22FDX® embedded MRAM technology for industrial-grade MCU & IOT applications, the crosstalk between MRAM & RF in a single EMI chip, and the trade-offs among MTJ device performances to optimize MRAM reliability for next-generation memory applications will be presented.

Talk Title: DTCO: How the industry has evolved

Abstract:  Since 1965, when Gordon Moore made his now famous self-fulfilling prophecy, optical scaling and material systems enabled a direct 0.5x area scaling node over node, for the next 30 years or so. While in no way was this scaling straightforward i.e.: engineering Innovation was needed; We were not approaching physical limits of material systems or optical limits of the printing systems. As area scaled, device and parasitic capacitance scaled almost linearly, without appreciable increase in effective Resistance or Leakage currents. This fulfilled the conditions for Dennard’s Law, enabling a geometric shrink driven performance boost and power reduction. In the early 2000s, for the 32/28mm node the rules of engagement changed, driven primarily by increase in leakage. However, design was still somewhat isolated from the disruption by clever technology decisions. By the time the industry was developing the 22/16nm nodes in 2005, it was no longer possible to optimize technology alone due to limits of optical/patterning systems, and the term DTCO was coined. Since then, DTCO has evolved to design around patterning and integration challenges, determine device and interconnect choices to drive PPA as we push the physical electrical limits of semiconductor manufacturing. My talk will cover some interesting aspects of how DTCO has impacted Technology Definition since its conception in 2005 to current day.

Talk Title: Integration Choices in Power GaN HEMT 

Abstract:  Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as GaN, are winning designs in the power supply market. Power supply designers have multiple options, such as using standalone GaN FET, GaN FET with integrated driver or GaN FET power module. GaN FET with integrated driver can be monolithic or heterogenous integration of two die – a GaN die and a CMOS driver die. This talk will review various integration options and highlight tradeoffs between them

Talk Title: Tunable Many-body Interactions and Induced Superconductivity in a Helical Luttinger Liquid

Abstract:  The interplay of topology, superconductivity, and many-body correlations in 1D has become a subject of intense research for the pursuit of non-trivial superconducting pairing. The boundaries of atomically-thin topological insulators in 2D – amongst them the quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator – provide a natural realisation of strictly 1D electronic structure with linear (Dirac) dispersion and spin-momentum locking (helicity).
We show that the topological edge states of the QSH insulator 1T’-WTe2 harbour a strongly correlated 1D electronic ground state – a helical Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid (TLL) – whose many-body Coulomb interactions can be effectively controlled by the edge state’s dielectric environment. This demonstrates tunability of a helical TLL in both its fundamental dependencies on potential and kinetic energy terms, respectively. Finally, we show that super-conductivity can be induced into the 1T’-WTe2 quantum spin Hall state by proximity-coupling to a superconducting van-der-Waals substrate, giving rise to an induced superconducting order parameter as large as 0.6meV in WTe2, stable beyond a B=2T magnetic field.

Talk Title: The requirement for 2D functional materials to solve today’s challenging Engineering problems

Abstract:  At present we are facing insurmountable challenges in solving engineering issues in many engineering domains. For example, Thermal, Mechanical, EMI, Power integrity, signal integrity etc. The unique properties of 2D materials have the potential breakthrough solution in these engineering domains. Another advantage of this is we can modify their functional characteristics depending on our needs. One of the major challenges at present we are facing to adapt this technology, is due the challenges we face in High Volume Manufacturing. In this presentation I will be discussing the need, Examples of how we are trying to adapt in engineering design, Critical need for University-Academia coloration etc.

Talk Title: Fundamentals of thermoelectric engines with twisted 2D bilayers of graphene

Abstract:  Thermoelectricity is an unconventional but extremely sensitive probe to the effects of electronic interactions in solids. Thermoelectric measurement often complements standard electrical transport and detects electronic correlations through departure from the well-established Mott semiclassical framework. Recent emergence of twisted bilayers of graphene provides a new versatile platform to explore not only several fundamental aspects of thermoelectricity at the atomic scale, but also design a new class of thermoelectric devices. I shall present how thermoelectricity can probe the inter-layer coupling in twisted bilayers, and exploit the understanding in realizing a unique class of heat engines.

Talk Title: Terahertz Silicon Topological Photonics for 6G communications

Abstract:  Global digitalization and the recent rise of artificial intelligence-based data-driven applications have directed their vectors towards terabits per second (Tbps) communication links. The fast-evolving 5G communication network cannot fulfill this demand due to several technological challenges, including bandwidth scarcity, which has stimulated innovative technologies with a vision of 6G communication. Terahertz (THz) technologies have been identified as a critical candidate for the emerging 6G communication with the potential to provide ubiquitous connectivity and remove the barrier between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Nonetheless, the existing THz photonic on-chip communication devices suffer from backscattering, bending loss, limited data speed, and lack of active tunability. Here, I will describe a new class of on-chip THz photonic topological devices consisting of low-loss, broadband single channel 160 Gbit/s communication link and critically coupled high-Q (Q ~ 106) cavities built on Silicon Valley-Hall Photonic Crystal. Silicon topological photonics will pave the path for augmentation of CMOS-compatible hybrid electronic-photonic driven terahertz technologies, vital for accelerating the development of 6G communications that would empower societies with real-time terabits per second wireless connectivity for network sensing, holographic communication, cognitive internet of everything, and massive digital cloning of the physical and the biological world.

Talk Title: Characterisation and Modelling of the Switching transitions of WBG Devices

Abstract:  Silicon Carbide MOSFETs (SiC MOSFETs) fall into the class of wide band gap (WBG) power devices. These devices are commercially available in the voltage range of 600-3300V and compete with the state-of-the-art Si-insulated gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBTs). Superior material properties of SiC MOSFET lead to smaller die sizes. This results in faster switching transients and lower switching loss. However, it excites device and circuit parasitic that may lead to prolonged oscillation, high device stress, spurious turn-on and EMI-related issues. So, the benefit of using SiC MOSFET as a power device comes with numerous design challenges resulting in slow commercial adaptation. It is predicted that the overall market share of WBG devices (SiC and GaN together) will be roughly 10% of the total market for power semiconductors by 2025. To overcome the design challenges and fully utilise the benefits of fast-switching SiC MOSFETs, a better understanding of switching dynamics is essential. However, the switching dynamics of SiC MOSFET are different compared to its Si counterpart due to the highly non-linear device characteristics and participation of circuit parasitic in the process. In this talk, we will discuss our recent work on developing an analytical model of the switching dynamics for hard and soft transitions of SiC MOSFET by simplifying the complex non-linear dynamics predicted by the behavioural model. The developed model, given the device-related parameters extracted from the data sheet, estimated or measured circuit parasitic, can predict lost switching energy, rate of change of device voltage etc., necessary for a successful power converter design through computation with sufficient accuracy.

Talk Title: HW/SW Codesign for Reliable Brain-inspired Computing on Unreliable Ferroelectric FET Technology

Abstract:  In this talk, I will focus on the emerging ferroelectric technology and its great potential in building efficient in-memory computing architectures. I will present the key challenges that the FeFET technology currently faces w.r.t scaling, design-time and runt-time variability, read/write disturbance, and high write voltage. Then, I will present unprecedented dual-port FeFET which is completely disturb free demonstrating its ability to offer scaling down the FE layer thickness down to merely 3nm while still reliably storing 8 states (i.e., 3-bit MLC-FeFET). Further, I will explain how abstracted reliability models can be developed from device physics to circuits towards realizing HW/SW codesign for robust in-memory computing that outstandingly synergizes with and brain-inspired Hyperdimensional computing.

Talk Title: Device Engineering for Ga2O3 based High Performance Deep UV Detectors

Abstract:  Gallium Oxide is an emerging ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor for the detection of deep UV rays around 254 nm. Apart from the direct band gap of ~4.9 eV, there are a few more material advantages of Ga2O3 such as good stability, high absorption coefficient, easier synthesis, etc. Although there have been remarkable developments in this domain across the globe during the last few years, still there are ample scopes for further improvement of these detector performances considering responsivity, the tradeoff between responsivity and dark current, and speed. In this regard, we attempted to improve the performance of these detectors by engineering heterojunction, PN junction, plasmon, etc.

Talk Title: Solution-based Organic Thin Film Transistor Technology Towards Circuits: Challenges and Possible Solutions

Abstract:  Substantial progress in organic thin film transistor (OTFT) has emerged the possibilities of realizing analog circuit applications such as low frequency amplifier for sensors, backplane circuits for flexible display, image sensors etc. Going forward, a number of scientific and technological challenges need to be addressed. Scalable manufacturing of OTFTs on polymer dielectric is one of the foremost challenges to make the technology sustainable. While scaling down the size, contact effect becomes the predominating factor deteriorating the device and circuit performances. Our research group actively involves in the development of solution based all-organic thin film transistors adapting microelectronic technology especially photolithography techniques to realize miniaturized high resolution device structure. In this presentation, our recent results on the technological aspects of scalable production of OTFT and alleviation of contact effect especially in solution-processed technology will be demonstrated.

Talk Title: Ultra-low-power steep-slope transistors based on laterally confined monolayer MoSi2N4

Abstract:  Leakage current in transistors has become a critical limiting factor for realizing ultra-low-power transistors. The dominant part of the leakage current arises from the long tail of the thermally excited carriers of high energy. We solve this problem by using narrow bandwidth semiconductors which limits the thermionic leakage current by filtering out the high energy carriers. We demon- strate this by using laterally confined and passivated monolayer MoSi2N4 as a channel material in two-dimensional transistors. With this solution, the subthreshold slope can be reduced to remark- ably low values of up to ∼ 20 mV/decade, compared to the thermally limited value of 60 mv/decade in conventional transistors at room temperature. We show that the unique electronic properties of narrow bandwidth conduction and valance bands is also shared by several other materials in the same series. This opens up new avenues for effectively tackling the OFF state current leakage and power dissipation problem and realizing ultra-low-power transistors.

Talk Title: Design Automation for concurrent design in emerging technologies

Abstract:  With the drive to sustainable reliable IT, the onus for extracting the maximum performance from technology migrations lies in newer design paradigms, and methodologies. In this talk will highlight some emerging technology trends, and illustrate its implications to hardware design, specifically high performance chip design, which in terms necessitates innovation in Electronic Design Automation (EDA). I will delve more into challenges in characterization of timing, power, noise, and reliability. I will also highlight some Cloud & AI/ML techniques leveraged for efficient industry scale designs, before concluding with how these tie into a concurrent design philosophy of hardware design.

Talk Title: Linear and nonlinear effects in 2D Suspended Structures

Abstract:  Vibrating membranes fabricated using 2D materials are extremely sensitive to various stimuli. In this talk, I’ll present our efforts towards using these thin structures as sensors. One of these is a strain sensor fabricating using graphene on a thin silicon diaphragm. These tiny structures vibrate at very high frequencies (10-100MHz) and are exquisitely sensitive to changes in the strain. However, nonlinearities in these devices also constraint their use as linear sensor. In the talk, I’ll demonstrate methods for controlling and manipulating these nonlinearities. I’ll show how our inability to produce perfect devices leads to nonlinear effects and our ability to control and cancel out nonlinearities leads to enhancement of signal to noise ratio. This regime of near cancellation of the two strongest nonlinearities is not only useful for applications but also to observe higher order nonlinearities and nonlinear damping.

Talk Title: Development of Ga2O3 devices and diodes towards converter applications at AFRL

Abstract:  Ga2O3 device development has seen rampant progress over the past decade due to the combination of the availability of high quality substrates, epitaxial doping capabilities and the material’s field strength. This talk will discuss process modules which has enabled high DC conduction loss and dynamic switching loss figures of merit. Key process modules include gate scaling, implantation optimization, self-aligned processes and dielectric optimization.

Talk Title: Challenges in Compact Modeling for Integrated Optical Solutions

Abstract:  Optical sensors are omnipresent in electronic devices and equipment used in the consumer, automotive, industrial and medical fields. Integrating these sensors into CMOS technologies leads to a unique set of challenges to the compact modeling of the sensors, as well as the other semiconductor devices used in the read-out circuitry. This talk will focus on the modeling challenges pertaining to the optical solutions in the consumer space, including proximity sensors, ambient light sensors, time of flight sensors and CMOS image sensors.

Talk Title: Formal Verification: Ready for Rapid Growth

Abstract:  The increasing ubiquity and complexity of electronics in the semiconductor industry demands the accurate and accelerated verification of designs. Formal verification has emerged as a promising technique to surpass the shortcomings of the dynamic verification method and ensures complete coverage. Formal methods are applied at different stages of the IP cycle. We present a concise yet informative “Formal Verification Roadmap” which would be of interest to executives and management who are at different levels of embracing formal methods: right from a nascent stage of building a formal centric team all the way until harnessing the power of formal as a mainstream verification methodology.

Talk Title: Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD): An essential process for advanced semiconductor technologies

Abstract:  yet to share

Talk Title: Advanced optoelectronic platform technologies for neuroengineering and robotics

Abstract:  Close loop and intelligent sensing systems with high specificity are vital to the progress of robotics and neuroscience. In neuroscience, we need neuro-engineering tools that can map ensemble of neurons in the brain with micron-resolution to understand the complexity associated with neuronal circuits, while on the other hand we need energy efficient and up-scalable technologies that can capture mechanical interactions between an object with the elegance of human skin for solving the physical manipulation challenge in robotics. In this talk, I will introduce prospects and examples of molecular optoelectronic systems that are suitably positioned to provide micro and macro level sensing. The suitability of this platform technology for optoegentics, proprioception and in form of robotic skin will be discussed.

Talk Title: On-chip Acceleration of Radio Frequency Machine Learning Models

Abstract:  The machine learning (ML) models have gained significant attention for radio frequency (RF) applications. However, incorporation of these models in a wideband RF system pipeline faces intriguing challenges to satisfy requirements of low processing latency and high processing throughput under the constraint of low processing power. This talk will discuss algorithm-hardware co-design methods for energy-efficient accelerations of RFML models using automatic modulation classification task as a case-study. First, we will discuss a quantization-aware accelerator design methodology to improve maximum throughput and power-efficiency of AMC model. Second, we will discuss hybrid processing pipeline that couples signal processing and machine learning to further improve ML models for AMC. Third, we will discuss potential of in-memory computing in RFML accelerations. The talk will conclude with discussions of future research directions in this field.

Talk Title: TVS Technology, Products and Applications

Abstract: Transient Voltage Suppressors (TVS) are primarily used on-board to protect sensitive I/O and power supply pins of Integrated Circuits (ICs) from being damaged by system level ESD (IEC61000-4-2 and IEC61000-4-5). Rapid growth in high-speed ports for USB and HDMI applications have increased the market demand for low capacitance protection products. Although, the system level ESD protection devices can be monolithically integrated on-chip, the die cost increases. In addition, it is difficult to exceed the performance of standalone TVS that utilize special cost-effective process technology that is not available in advanced CMOS nodes. This talk will present the state-of-the-art TVS technology, package and product characterization for USB, HDMI and Ethernet applications.

Talk Title: WBG Devices and it’s

Abstract: The adoption of WBG in industry is rapidly increasing for power electronics systems. The choice of power train stage, topology, switching frequency etc. for WBG adoption, have been always a crucial decision points for system designers. This talk highlights few emerging systems where WBG adoption can make a large impact on system performance, features & power density. In this talk, few select systems power train & possible topologies for each stage of the power train will be analyzed. The impact of using WBG for each stage/topology will be analyzed by design examples.

Talk Title: Transition Metal Dichalcogenides based Heterostructures for Ultra-sensitive Environmental Gas Sensors

Abstract: The isolation of graphene has heralded a new class of material research in 2D materials. Due to their high mobilities, tuneable bandgaps and surface to volume ratios, 2D materials have shown promising performance as gas sensors. Moreover, heterostructures can further enhance sensitivity and other device properties. Details of heterostructure gas sensor assembly and adhesion between 2D materials will be discussed. Additionally, the performance of these gas sensors and their sensing mechanism will be presented.

Talk Title: Waferscale Computing

Abstract: Fueled by the tremendous growth of new applications in the domain of big-data computing, deep learning, and scientific computing, the demand for increasing system performance is far outpacing the capability of conventional methods for performance scaling. Traditionally, performance and energy scaling has relied on transistor and silicon scaling. However, developing chips, often very large ones in the advanced technology nodes, is becoming very challenging and costly. Moreover, system performance is often limited by inter-die connections. Today, dies with different functionality are packaged and integrated using PCBs. Unlike silicon features, package and PCB features have barely scaled (about 4-5x) over the past few decades. This severely limits performance and efficiency of processor systems. Traditional scale-out system building, and integration methodologies are failing to deliver the performance today’s applications (such as artificial intelligence, big-data processing etc.) demand. As a consequence, future performance, power, and cost improvements cannot come from transistor technology alone. Then, how do we enable “System scaling”?

To target scale-out systems, we propose chiplet-based waferscale processors to dramatically reduce inter-die communication overheads. To that end, we developed the Si-IF technology where bare dies can be tightly integrated on a waferscale interconnect substrate to build scale-out processors up to a size of an entire wafer. However, building such a large consolidated waferscale system has its own challenges. For the first time, we explored the design space of waferscale power-delivery networks, cooling and trade-offs of yield and inter-GPM network topologies, etc. I will discuss some of these challenges and solutions that we developed to architect a large shared memory waferscale prototype system. Next, I will make a case for waferscale GPU and waferscale graph acceleration, where we leverage the massive bisection bandwidth and sub-1ns inter-die latencies to build high-performance computing systems. Our work shows that massive gains in excess of 5-10x can be achieved in terms of both performance gains as well as system energy using waferscale integration.

Talk Title: Quantum emitters in 2D materials

Abstract: Developing quantum emitters in a deterministic way to address future quantum information technologies has propelled intense activities in the recent past. Various studies on a wide variety of materials have been conducted to find out ideal sources of a robust and high-purity single photon. Atomically thin van der Waals materials with unique properties have been explored for developing single photon emitters that can even be integrated with photonic platforms.
Here we discuss the generation and characterization of such quantum emitters operating at room temperature. We perform time correlation measurements to establish single-photon properties.

Talk Title: Recent Progress of scaled Si-IGBT and related technologies

Abstract: For the future power devices, Si-IGBT is still under improvement. To achieve more high power densities, size reduction, etc., there are many researches related to Si wafer, device processes, device structures, etc. are ongoing. In this presentation, the scaled Si-IGBT as the future advanced Si-IGBT, and related wafer, processes technologies are explained.

Talk Title: Silicon Device Based Power Electronic Converters – Applications and Research in Power Electronics

Abstract: Silicon devices have been in use for a long time for power applications. MOSFETS, IGBTs, SJ MOSFETS, GTOs and other devices have been used in power converters for applications such as Electric Vehicle (EV) battery charging, wireless charging, DC gird, renewable – fed converters, etc. The expertise of our team is in hardware implementation of these converter topologies. Various non-isolated and isolated converters have been tested and validated with for these applications and for simultaneous charging of multiple Li – ion batteries of different ratings, CLLC converter for charging of multiple batteries, patented wireless charging of 48 V battery from a 36 V source etc. A discussion of the implementation of these projects with practical tips for researchers will be a major taking point of the talk.

Talk Title: Accelerated Modeling for Design Space Exploration of Heterogeneously Integrated Systems: Is Machine Learning Useful?

Abstract: Modeling for design space exploration of Heterogeneously Integrated (HI) systems is well understood as a multi-physics problem but is less commonly recognized as a multi-scale problem. In this talk we systematically explore (1) adaptive grid solution strategies for systematic trade-off between solution accuracy and computational speed, (2) decomposition of problem domain to enable compact models of sub-domains [3] and to enable a coordinated multi-level analysis, (3) machine learning models as compact models of decomposed domains, and (4) the computational cost of training and using machine learning models relative to physical models. We will conclude with potential strategies for the efficient design exploration of HI systems including Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs).

Talk Title: Utilizing Quantum Geometry and Topology for Enabling Integrated Chiral Photonics

Abstract: Classical and quantum computing devices need to ferry vast amounts of data and optical interconnects provide a promising approach allowing faster speeds and larger bandwidths. Critical interconnect components are light sources, waveguides and detectors. Currently, the information is encoded in intensity and frequency but other degrees of freedom (DOFs) such as photon-spin and spatial orbital angular momentum modes (OAM) should be utilized to enhance the capacity of optical links. Therefore, new materials and devices that can produce, transmit and detect light with complex polarization and spatial modes are needed. We will discuss recent developments towards the development of on-chip lasers, waveguides and photodetectors that are sensitive to photon spin and OAM modes that can enable the development of integrated chiral photonic systems.

Talk Title: Lithium Voids Precede Dendrite Growth in Solid State Lithium Metal Batteries

Abstract: Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) that utilize metallic lithium as an anode offer high energy density and potentially long cycle and calendar life. However, stable plating and stripping of lithium in cells employing inorganic solid electrolytes, especially at current densities >0.2 mA/cm2, has been a challenge. In this talk, we will discuss the origins of dendrite growth in SSLMBs employing inorganic solid-state electrolytes. We show that there is a strong correlation between the onset of dendrite growth and the observation of lithium voids at the interface with the solid electrolyte. We discuss the properties of interlayers and propose descriptors for identifying interlayers that could further increase the current densities for cycling lithium without the undue necessity for high stack pressure.

Talk Title: Advanced Characterization of Silicon Solar Cells and Materials

Abstract: The electronic quality of silicon material and wafer bulk and surface recombination can be tracked through the entire value chain during ingot to solar cell to module manufacture. This talk will describe the use of excess-carrier-lifetime measurements throughout the process. In addition to applying this technique for process optimization and control, the use of lifetime measurements to study the various degradation mechanisms under light and temperature stress for high-efficiency solar cells will be described. This will include eddy-current lifetime-measurement techniques as well as the interpretation of current-voltage and additional data at the cell, module, and array tests.

Talk Title: Indigenous GaN MMIC Technology

Abstract: Future trends for next generation strategic systems require multifunctionality and modularity like combining radar, communications, and electronic warfare in one system. This higher level of functional integration improves system performance through heightened awareness, improved responsiveness, and mission execution. The use of gallium nitride (GaN) MMIC as key component enables higher performance of systems meeting the requirements in small size with high power and hence GaN MMIC are emerging as an alternative or replacement for laterally diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) components. In most of next generation systems GaN MMIC technology is being considered because of high power density, high efficiency, wide bandwidth, and exceptionally long life. GaN on SiC has superior properties like higher breakdown voltage; higher saturated electron drift velocity and higher thermal conductivity. Hence GaN HEMTs also offer greater power density and wider bandwidths compared to Si; GaAs; and GaN on Si transistors. As shorter gate length GaAs and GaN transistors become available, coupled with improved circuit design techniques, new devices are becoming available that can perform comfortably to millimeter wave frequencies, opening new applications that were hard to contemplate a decade ago. This paper will briefly describe the indigenous GaN semiconductor technology that is enabling these developments to achieve optimum performance of devices, circuits and subsystems based on this technology.

Talk Title:  THz-driven strong-field lightwave electronics and nanoscale THz imaging

Abstract: Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy has been used for decades as a driver for the development of novel applications in sensing, nondestructive testing, and quality control. In the recent few years there has been an increased interest in using strong THz field for technologies that are close to fundamental research, but still is close to commercial use. I will discuss our recent development of the world’s first THz-sensitive photomultiplier, THz-based imaging techniques for large-scale mapping of thin-film conductivity with focus on graphene in the semiconductor industry, and finally show the route towards mapping of thin-film conductivity with a resolution of 20 nanometers, using THz waves.

Talk Title: Polariton lasers in organic molecular materials

Abstract: Exciton-polaritons, half-light half-matter quasiparticles that form in optical cavities have become a highly attractive candidate to realize Bose Einstein like condensates in the solid state that emit coherent radiation. Also called polariton lasers, these systems show lower threshold than the more conventional photon lasers because they do not need population inversion. Organic molecules have emerged as an appealing system to realize polariton lasers owing to their ability to operate at room temperature. Following a brief introduction to polariton lasers, I will present our recent work on realizing a universal platform for achieving polariton lasing using commercially available dyes using a small molecule ionic isolation lattice (SMILES) host. Possibility to realize lattices of polariton lasers and their potential as analog Hamiltonian simulators will also be discussed.

Talk Title: How “quantum” is a quantum computer?

Abstract: We present two complementary viewpoints for combining quantum computers and the foundations of quantum mechanics. On the one hand, ideal devices can be used as test beds for experimental tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics: We provide algorithms for the Peres test for complex numbers in quantum superpositions and the Sorkin test of Born’s rule. On the other hand, noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices can be benchmarked using these same tests. These are deep quantum benchmarks based on the foundations of quantum theory itself. We present test data from Rigetti hardware and the IBM qiskit simulation platform.

Talk Title: Sustainable Electronic Materials and Devices

Abstract: Sustainability and health are two of the global challenges recognized by UN. Electronics is the pillar that supports the innovation in these sectors. However, current electronic components are non-biodegradable and release toxins in environment, while the implanted electronics is not compatible with soft human tissues. The aim of my research is to overcome these challenges through i) development of novel electronic material library, and ii) next-generation devices with new form factors. Through green chemistry we have developed novel biodegradable, biocompatible and bioresorbable electronic materials. Printed electronics is the new emerging fabrication technique that allows electronic components, circuits and devices to be put on a desired surface using nanoparticle inks. The synthesized materials are converted into printable inks to fabricate soft and flexible devices. I will showcase some of the case studies on the application of the materials and flexible devices.

Talk Title: On-chip System level IEC ESD protection issues in Automotive ICs

Abstract:  In this talk, unique failure mechanisms in high voltage Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR) under IEC stress are discussed. In one case, the presence of a common mode choke in the stress path was found to change the current waveform shape that the electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device experiences on-chip. Minor variations in the stress current waveform shape for specific IEC stress levels are found to cause an unexpected window failure in DeNMOS based SCR. In second, Air-Discharge IEC failure in Bi-Directional SCRs that are sensitive to IEC measurement conditions via the pulse rise time are investigated. 3D-TCAD simulations are used to develop the physical Insights of the failure and propose the device level engineering solutions to mitigate the IEC failures.

Talk Title: Phase Change Memory Technology for High Speed Computing

Abstract: In the realm of next generation computing, chalcogenide based Phase Change Memory (PCM) offers promising features for a ‘universal memory’ owing to all-round characteristics including high-speed and non-volatility. However, realizing an ultrafast switching is still a key challenge for faster programming. This talk will present exhaustive experimental results on electrical switching of Ge-Sb-Te, Ag, In-doped Sb2Te and In-Sb-Te based PCM devices including ultrafast electrical switching dynamics, voltage-dependent transient characteristics in picosecond timescale using a custom-built advanced programmable electrical test setup. Furthermore, a trajectory map for defining the ultimate speed of PCM devices will be discussed on the basis of field-dependent transient dynamics in picosecond timescale for enabling the ultimate speed of PCM devices would pave a way towards realizing ‘universal memory’ for future computing.

Talk Title: Powering a sustainable future – Two important vectors enabling next-generation of energy efficient power management ICs

Abstract: Power management has been a key enabler for a variety of ever increasing modern day electronic applications like smartphones, data center servers, electric vehicles and smart grids to name a few. However, in order to achieve climate neutrality targets and also cater to surging energy consumption by such applications across the globe, it is imperative that such solutions need to be highly efficient. This talk focuses on wide-bandgap (GaN and SiC) based converters and ultra-low quiescent power converters, which are identified as two key directions for next-generation of sustainable power management ICs that achieve higher energy efficiency. Insights into latest industry products, ongoing research and future trendlines are discussed in detail.

Talk Title: Thin film photovoltaic technologies: new trends, progress, opportunities and industrial challenges

Abstract: Thin film solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (called CIGS) and organic-inorganic hybrid Perovskite semiconductors have shown remarkably high photovoltaic conversion efficiencies on glass and flexible substrates in “monofacial”, “bifacial”, and “tandem” configurations. The trends of progress suggests efficiencies beyond 30% are within reach quite soon. Thin film photovoltaic (PV) technologies show great potential for low cost manufacturing and some specific features of solar modules are especially attractive for terrestrial and space applications. These technologies, different from Si wafer based technologies, offer new opportunities to industries but also pose various challenges. The talk will present status of technologies, emerging trends, and discuss the challenges and opportunities for industries.

Talk Title: Manganite based RRAM for Stochasticity Control for Boltzmann Machine

Abstract: Non-filamentary manganite-based RRAM provides richness in behavior & controls due to the interplay of ionic, thermal, and electron conduction. We have shown that set & reset processes are enabled by positive vs. negative feedback leading to polarity-controlled stochastic vs. deterministic switching. The stochastic set enables a probabilistic switching in a neuron for a Boltzmann Machine. The deterministic reset enables excellent HRS control which enables weight update. Further, it enables highly controlled initialization of the HRS state that produces a very controlled stochastic switching distribution that remains drift free over time. Such stationary distributions enabled by deterministic/stochastic device physics produces improved performance in NP-Hard graphical optimization problems like maximum cut (Max-cut).

Talk Title: Revisiting doping mechanisms in a mixed electronic-ionic conductor PEDOT:PSS

Abstract: The mechanism of doping and de-doping in conjugated polymers such as PEDOT:PSS has been widely discussed on account of their application in bioelectronics from electrochemical batteries/supercapacitors to neural electrodes and transducers. In a conventional theory, there are three expected mechanisms of doping (i) Capacitive, leading to box shaped CV characteristics, whereby electrical double layers are formed at the surface of the polymer and the counter-electrode. This type of a film shows a capacitance independent of thickness. (ii) Faradaic, in which under positive bias, holes move towards the counter-electrode and react with species in the electrolyte leading to redox peaks in the cyclic voltammetry and (iii) Volumetric electrochemical doping, which is a combination of the above two, caused largely by cation injection into the bulk of the film, leading to electronic-ionic coupling of the holes and cations [1-3].
We demonstrate that the doping mechanism of K+ in PEDOT:PSS is more complex than these simple scenarios. Our films are able to retain more ions in a Faradaic reaction than via purely capacitive doping, pointing to coupling between the sulfonate anion and cation.
References:-
1.Exploiting mixed conducting polymers in organic and bioelectronic devices, Scott Keene et al Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 19144
2. Understanding Volumetric Capacitance in Conducting Polymers, Christopher M Procter et al, Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics 2016, 54, 1433-1436.
3. Berggren, M., Malliaras, G. G., (2019), How conducting polymer electrodes operate, Science, 364(6437), 233-234. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw9295

Talk Title: 2D Dielectric Materials for Emerging Nanoelectronic Devices

Abstract: Two dimensional (2D) dielectric materials are amongst the key drivers enabling the realization of next generation nanoelectronic devices in the future [1]. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), 2D mica and Fluorinated graphene have recently attracted a lot of attention as 2D dielectric materials [2,3]. In particular, h-BN emerges as one of the promising dielectric materials for graphene and other 2D layered semiconductor based nanoelectronic devices. The h-BN exhibits perfect match for graphene as they share many similarities. Mica dielectric material used as a substrate for various heterogeneous 2D material structures due to its excellent thermal stability, surface flatness, light transmittance and chemical resistance. Fluorinated graphene is another 2D dielectric material which demonstrates excellent dielectric properties with fast and scalable processing. Importantly, there is limited insight and conclusive evidence on the physics of degradation, reliability and breakdown (BD) in these 2D dielectric materials. Here, we highlight important findings on the mechanism of degradation and BD in h-BN and Mica dielectrics from the device level to localized nanometer scale regions of 2D dielectrics. Nanoscale analysis tools (Conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)) are used to assess the nanoscale performance of the 2D dielectrics; local degradation due to dielectric wear-out and subsequent breakdown.

Talk Title: Strain-driven quantum devices

Abstract: Topological order and materials have been at the center of attention in condensed matter physics and engineering. Topological materials, a new quantum state of matter, are a family of quantum materials with boundary states whose physical properties are robust against disorder. Therefore, there have been few examples for a topological phase transition realized experimentally, even fewer cases for an in-situ tuning of the topological phase. For the first part of my talk, I will discuss our results
and methods to apply uniaxial strain in topological van der Waals quantum materials and how it influences its electrical properties. Our results point towards a topological phase transition of the system tuned by in-situ uniaxial strain. For the second part of my talk, I will discuss our approach to creating dynamic strain in van der Waals quantum materials and how to control the electron and excitons dynamics in such systems. Our results could pave the way for engineering novel quantum devices as well as a step towards a solid-state quantum simulator platform.

Talk Title: Spatially Controlled Growth of 2D Materials

Abstract: The surface potential of graphene can be modulated with strain and doping by engineering the underlaying sub-surface in which the graphene resides on. Here we discuss a detailed investigation to correlate the influence of the underlying sub-surface on modulating the surface potential of graphene on a diamond like carbon (DLC) substrate through a heterointerface containing trapped gallium in uniquely designed spatial structures. Through our heterointerface engineering approach of the graphene surface potential landscape, we show selective area growth of 2D materials on the graphene surface . This study will provide a deep understanding on the influence of graphene surface potential on the nucleation and surface diffusion process for the growth of chalcogenide 2D semiconductors.

Talk Title: Towards reliable circuits using NC/FEFETs

Abstract: In this talk, we mainly describe our work in understanding the physics of multiple domains, dielectric (DE) phase in FE layer, interface traps in NC/FeFET devices and their impact on circuit reliability. We also discuss the impact of polarization asymmetry in the FE layer due to drain-source voltage in NC/FeFETs. We discuss that the presence of DE phase causes non-uniformity in the polarization and potential contour inside the FE-layer in the gate-dielectric stack. The randomly varying fraction of DE phase, therefore, introduces a higher reliability concern for NC-FETs. In FeFETs, we observe and explain that there exists a certain DE percentage threshold below which the increase of the DE phase does not significantly impact the device memory window. We observe that another reliability issue in NCFETs is caused by the traps at the interfaces of silicon, silicon-di-oxide and hafnium oxide or bulk hafnium oxide traps, which change the FE polarization.

Talk Title: MICRO-NANO INTEGRATED SYSTEMS FOR LIFE SCIENCE APPLICATIONS

Abstract:  In this presentation, we will talk about the in-situ synthesis of Au-PDMS and Ag-PDMS nanocomposites both at the macroscale and inside the channel of a microfluidic chip. The nanocomposite has been successfully used for sensing of antibody-antigen interactions, allowing the detection of various important proteins. Nanocomposites of metals integrated into other polymers such as PMMA, PVA, and PS have been synthesized as well by using UV, microwave and thermal reduction methods. The effect of the particle`s shape on the properties of nanocomposites and their sensing abilities has also been studied by synthesizing nanostar particles and integrating them into microchannels. Because of the biocompatibility and non-toxicity of gold and silver nanoparticles, their nanocomposites can be used for plasmonic detection of biological entities in cancer research.

Talk Title: CMOS scaling: From Design into System Technology Co-Optimization

Abstract:  Scaling is driven by the perspective of more function per unit cost. This paradigm has essentially been fueled with increasing transistor density by building ever more compact devices and finer interconnect capabilities. We are approaching records in feature sizes that starts questioning its viability moving forward. The entire Mendeleev table has been screened and manufacturing machines reach extreme levels in precision. However, an SoC is not composed of a monolithic set of functions, from compute blocks to memorization very different functions are expected from CMOS devices, not to mention the whole infrastructure that wraps the system (power and clock distribution, short signal nets and long signal nets, IOs and PLLs,…). The SoC is a vastly heterogeneous system. In order to keep scaling system performance, technology will not need to embrace that heterogeneity and find ways to leverage unique technology capabilities that improve system performance. This can only go hand in hand with a revision of system design practices and introducing novel architectures. CMOS Scaling is entering the era of System-Technology Co-Optimization. We will be talking about concepts leaning in that direction, such as backside processing and bonding technologies for smart partitioning, and extrapolate to the broader vision of the CMOS heterogeneous platform: CMOS 2.0.

Talk Title: Flexible organic electronic devices in healthcare for remote patient monitoring

Abstract:  With the devastating COVID-19 pandemic spreading during the last two years, the need for smart-healthcare technology to take off the pressures of health professionals and provide the patient with much comfortable yet remote monitoring medical devices becomes paramount. Aligning the flexibility of organic electronic device-based sensors has been found to provide opportunities to develop wearable medical technology, including various diagnostic interventions to replace the existing gold standards with portable, affordable, and wearable medical devices with remote monitoring capabilities. In this talk, I will take on the development of a diagnostic intervention of pulmonary disfunction-related diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and sleep apnea, using a flexible organic field-effect transistors-based sensor system.

Talk Title: Desert Photovoltaics – Performance and reliability issues of PV modules in hot climatic conditions

Abstract:  The photovoltaic industry has reached a major milestone of installed global capacity of 1TW. The desert regions are ideal locations for installing large power plants. However, the expectations of PV system operating for 20-30 years or more can be challenging due to the harsher climatic conditions. Therefore, improving the risk associated with weather-induced degradation of PV modules will reduce uncertainity in lifetime energy production, which in turn reduces financial risk and improves financing opportunities for projects located in these regions. In this talk, I will be sharing the degradation issues of different PV module types located in the 5GW MBR Solar park. The climate severity will be discussed, followed by its impact on the PV module BOM will be shown. Requirement for climate specific qualification standards and module design will be explored.

Talk Title: Nano-Electronic Simulation Software (NESS): An Overview

Abstract:  In this talk, I’ll provide an overview of the new device simulator NESS (Nano-Electronic Simulation Software) developed by the University of Glasgow’s Device Modelling Group. It is a fast and modular TCAD tool with flexible architecture and has been implemented in C++. It has its own structure and mesh generation capabilities, and contains different modules including classical, semi-classical, and quantum transport solvers, mobility calculation, kinetic Monte-Carlo and others. NESS can also consider various sources of statistical variability in nanoscale devices and can perform simulations of large number of microscopically different devices created by the structure generator. I’ll summarize the workings of the different modules and demonstrate of the capabilities of NESS by presenting results obtained from the simulation of state-of-the-art and emerging devices.

Talk Title: Building and Memory Centric World

Abstract:  We live in an era which is more memory-centric than ever. Factors that contribute to the ever increasing importance of memory are – (i) Saturation of Moore’s law, (ii) ease of generating enormous amounts of data and (iii) exciting new material properties. The nature of present day data intensive applications is such that, excellence in computational performance cannot be achieved alone on the basis of raw transistor scaling or linearly increasing the number of processing cores. A fundamental shift in the vastly successful Von Neumann computational paradigm is needed to overcome the bottlenecks associated with data-intensive real time applications. This is where next generation Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) begins to play a very significant role. Our research group at IIT-D, has been actively working on exploiting the characteristics of emerging NVM nanodevices and nanomaterials for a multitude of novel applications. We have considered emerging technologies such as OxRAM, CBRAM, PCM, RRAM, STT-MRAM etc. building an entire memory-centric application ecosystem comprising of various hybrid CMOS-NVM circuits. Applications realized include: Supervized and Unsupervised Learning (SNNs, CNNs, BNNs), AI Edge-Inference & Training, Sensing, Security, and in-Memory Computing.

Talk Title: Strain Insensitive Thin Film Transistor Circuits

Abstract:  Thin film transistors (TFT) promise high density integrated circuits and systems on diverse substrates such as glass, plastics and textiles. Recent years have seen a growing interest in the development of integrated systems that can both bend and stretch. These circuits are developed on elastomeric substrates that have a relatively low modulus of elasticity.
However, such requirements pose interesting questions related to the design of TFT circuits on these substrates. If there is positive strain along the source-drain direction, it is known that the threshold voltage reduces, and mobility increases in metal oxide TFTs. Based on this understanding, the question one can ask is – can we design TFT circuits whose transfer function remains strain independent? Here I discuss some key ideas that may enable the design of such circuits.

Talk Title: Sustainable Materials and Design Approaches for Soft Electronics and Robotics

Abstract:  Modern societies rely on a multitude of electronic and robotic systems, with emerging stretchable and soft devices enabling ever closer human machine interactions. These advances however take their toll on our ecosystem, with high energy demand, greenhouse gas emission and environmental pollution.
Mitigating some of these adverse effects, this talk introduces materials and methods for soft systems that biodegrade. Based on highly stretchable biogels and degradable elastomers, our forms of soft electronics and robots are designed for prolonged operation in ambient conditions without fatigue, but fully degrade after use through biological triggers. Electronic skins provide sensory feedback. 3D printing of biodegradable hydrogels enables omnidirectional soft robots with multifaceted optical sensing abilities. Enabling autonomous operation, stretchable and biodegradable batteries are introduced that power wearable sweat sensors.

Talk Title: Dual Active Bridge: Closed Form Equations for Voltage Fed and Current Fed Converters with Soft Switching Criteria.

Abstract:  Dual Active Bridge is becoming popular day by day because of the high power handling
capability, ease in achieving soft-switching, simpler operation, etc. 
It is a core interfacing component in High Frequency Links power conversion systems
for bidirectional power such as in solid state transformer (SST) etc. Isolation through
high frequency transformer sometimes also aid in achieving a more efficient solution by
proper choice of turns ratio. Here analysis has been carried out for an application which has a moderately high turns ratio. The focus was to arrive at a design methodology which yield minimum loss. For this probable topology candidates was studied and a comparative analysis was made. This design methodology can also be extended and tailor made for any specification. This talk revolves around the design of a DAB Converter for minimum loss.
Two types of DAB- Voltage-Fed and Current-Fed, have been studied extensively and then
the design of the topology is shown with comparison.

Talk Title: Compact Modelling and Unconventional Applications of 3D NAND Flash Memory

Abstract:  With applications ranging from portable flash drives to SSDs and cloud storage, 3D NAND flash memory has become ubiquitous in this era of internet of things (IoT). However, lack of a proper framework for analyzing the efficacy of 3D NAND flash memory has remained the bottleneck for circuit designers and system architects in this direction. In this talk, we present the first behavioral compact model for 3D NAND flash memory which effectively captures the parasitic coupling components while accurately reproducing the static characteristics. The developed compact model also enables the characterization of stochastic analog behavior. The possibility of exploiting the inherent variability of the 3D NAND flash memory for realizing an adversary-attack resilient strong physical unclonable function (PUF) circuit would also be discussed.

Talk Title: Photonic Integrated Circuits using an open market silicon photonics PDK with integrated lasers

Abstract:  This talk will review the world’s first open silicon photonics platform with integrated lasers to enable the design of PICs for datacom and sensing applications. OpenLight’s III-V-on-SOI technology is currently offered by Tower Semiconductor in a PDK whose component library includes InP-based lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, high-speed modulators and detectors; as well as a wide range of state-of-the-art passive silicon components to form a complete solution for low-power, high-performance photonics integrated circuits.

Talk Title: The role of heterogeneous integration in emerging device development

Abstract:  While heterogeneous integration has always been practiced in electronics packaging, the scale in conventional packaging has been macroscopic with packaged dies or chips integrated on a printed circuit board at ball grid array pitches of several hundred micrometers and trace pitches of tens of micrometers and inter die distances in the range of a few to several mm. In the last several years, the advent of more silicon-like substrates and the adoption of silicon technology, these dimensions have scaled considerably. At UCLA chips for example we have pioneered sub-10m bump pitches, inter-die spacings of tens of m, and wafer scale integration. Other approaches such as pseudo-monolithic integration where disparate devices and materials are assembled on say on processed silicon and interconnected lithographically at a ~100 nm scale pitches promise to upend the potential of classical approaches of trying to integrate everything on a CMOS wafer. In this talk, we will review these developments, their potential and also address some of the limitations. These new developments are indeed commercially viable and will lead to increased functionality at lower cost and size, enabling a “Moore’s Law” at the system level.

Talk Title: Overview of SER immune Physical IP design

Abstract:  Radiation induced soft errors are very critical challenges to build Automotive and Infrastructure products. Single Event Upsets could upset multiple circuit nodes in advanced process nodes due to technology scaling. This has captured the increasing interest on SER topic recently.
In this paper, we will discuss about technology scaling of FIT for logic and memory in advanced process nodes. Some of the layout techniques to improve the soft error immunity would be discussed. We will also present multiple mitigation techniques that can be implemented at register level up to sub-system level such as DCLS, TMR, flipflop hardening, parity, ECC etc.

Talk Title: Engineered Carbon Materials for Sodium Ion Hybrid Capacitors

Abstract:  Carbon materials, including carbon dots, carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphite, hard carbon, etc., have received greater attention due to their diversity, abundance, and favourable properties. The properties of carbon materials are easily tunable by doping with other elements or making composites with other materials.1 The unique chemical and structural features allow the possibility of engineering these materials, thus offering them unlimited advanced applications in energy storage and conversion.2 Here, efficient strategies to synthesise porous and hard carbon materials with significantly improved surface area and porosity features are explored for their applications in hybrid ion capacitors (HICs).3 For instance, engineered carbon samples with ‘open’ and ‘closed’ pores are synthesised to explore the sodium charge storage mechanism in hard carbon anodes. In-depth studies using different physicochemical techniques revealed strong evidence for adsorption/insertion-pore filling mechanism.4 The talk will also highlight our recent efforts on mass balancing of hybrid ion capacitor electrodes that could be employed as a design tool to guide the selection of optimized HIC devices for the intended applications.5

References

1. Choi, C. H., Park, S. H., Woo, S. I. ACS Nano 2012, 6, 7084–7091. 

2. Liu W., Jiang H.and Yu H., Energy Environ. Sci., 2019, 12, 1751-1779.

3. Surendran, V., Arya, R. S., Vineesh, T. V., Babu, B., Shaijumon, M. M. J. Energy Storage 2021, 35, 102340. 

4. Surendran V., Hema H. R., MS Oliyantakath Hassan, Vijayan Vinesh, Shaijumon, M. M, 2022, Batteries & Supercaps 2022, e202200316

5. Surendran, V., Lal, A., Shaijumon, M. M. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13 (44), 52610–52619. 

Talk Title: Phase change photonics and interfacing it with electronics for emerging AI hardware

Abstract:  The current buzz in the semiconductor industry is heterogeneous integration. As the industry moves forward with several applications being data driven, there is a clear trend towards the convergence of computing, communications, sensing and control technologies. Packaging will play a significant role in enabling the convergence of these technologies.
On the communication side emerging 5G mmWave frequencies are projected to support enormous bandwidth with 1-10Gps data speeds. Active research is ongoing to increase the data speeds even more by moving to higher frequencies in the sub-THz frequency range namely, 6G with projected data rates of 1Tbps. Such applications can only be possible with advanced packaging solutions.
This presentation addresses the needs for beyond 5G (such as 6G) communications and the importance of packaging to fulfill these needs. The progress made on glass interposer-based solutions at Georgia Tech’s Packaging Research Center will be discussed along with future needs as we progress towards sub-THz frequencies.As the race towards new hardware that goes beyond the non-von Neumann processor for applications in machine learning and artificial intelligence heats up, photonics is emerging as a promising contender. It is clear that a future solution will have to embed elements that involve both photonics and electronics, ideally within the same chip. In this talk, I will cover fundamental research on device concepts using functional materials that underpin many of the developments over the last decade and present some of our recent work in this area.

Talk Title: Heterogeneous Integration using Advanced Packaging for (Beyond) 5G mmWave Communications

Abstract:  The current buzz in the semiconductor industry is heterogeneous integration. As the industry moves forward with several applications being data driven, there is a clear trend towards the convergence of computing, communications, sensing and control technologies. Packaging will play a significant role in enabling the convergence of these technologies.
On the communication side emerging 5G mmWave frequencies are projected to support enormous bandwidth with 1-10Gps data speeds. Active research is ongoing to increase the data speeds even more by moving to higher frequencies in the sub-THz frequency range namely, 6G with projected data rates of 1Tbps. Such applications can only be possible with advanced packaging solutions.
This presentation addresses the needs for beyond 5G (such as 6G) communications and the importance of packaging to fulfill these needs. The progress made on glass interposer-based solutions at Georgia Tech’s Packaging Research Center will be discussed along with future needs as we progress towards sub-THz frequencies.

Talk Title: Interlayer transport and defect density of states in MoS2 flakes

Abstract:  There is a concerted effort to develop functional inks of 2D materials to realize printable electronic devices using them and MoS2 is principal among them. The material for formulation of ink is derived from flakes through different strategies. There is a need though to correlate the transport parameters and defect density of states (DOS) in flakes in order to enable their traceability to functional inks and materials. I will first share our results on interlayer transport studies in an effort to understand underlying mechanisms. I will also discuss a convenient method of measuring defect DOS as a function of temperature in flakes of MoS2 to understand their origin. Then I will share our efforts at formulation of inks for MoS2 from materials of different origin.

Talk Title: Charge Based Compact Model (ICM) for GaN based HEMTs

Abstract:  A computationally efficient compact model of GaN-based HEMTs suitable for DC, small signal as well as transient simulations is presented.
At first, a unified expression for 2DEG charge density is formulated. Considering drift-diffusion model and charge linearization in the channel, an expression for the drain current is derived in terms of the electron charge densities at the source and drain ends. Other effects such as DIBL, CLM, vertical field dependence on mobility and self-heating are incorporated. The access regions are modelled using additional HEMTs similar to the intrinsic transistor. A model for gate-to-source and gate-to-drain currents is derived in terms of the terminal charges, which are obtained using Ward-Dutton charge partitioning scheme. The model includes the effect of buffer traps and is able to capture the dynamic behaviour of HEMTs and current collapse.
The model equations are implemented in Verilog-A and validated by comparison with experimental data for a wide range devices and under different operating conditions.

Talk Title: Electro-Thermal Signoff For Next Generation 3DICs

Abstract:  This topic will cover the importance of using simulation to address key challenges in semiconductor 3DIC design. Semiconductors/ICs are now the backbone of many industries, ranging across computing (microprocessors, GPUs), telecommunication (smartphones), household appliances (sensors, Internet of Things devices), transportation. This presentation will highlight how simulation is key to designing ICs for such complex applications, while addressing time to market, power consumption, performance and area/size constraints. Specifically, the presentation will focus on the evolution of IC design from single wafers to 3DIC structures and the complexities associated with power integrity, signal integrity and thermal analysis of such advanced designs. We will discuss simulation workflows covering input data and modelling requirements, while also looking at key simulation results that can enable design closure.

Talk Title: Calibration kit design for high Frequency measurement

Abstract:  Accurate, reliable and repeatable measurement of semiconductor devices is essential for high frequency device modeling to circuit and system design. The talk will be focused on role of EM simulation in calibration kit design for measurement of semiconductor devices for high frequency measurement.

Talk Title: Electrostatics of bulk versus nanoscale junctions

Abstract:  Nanoscale devices based on atomically thin semiconductor layers, nanowires or nanotubes consist of PN junctions as either essential or parasitic elements. The mathematical treatment of the electrostatics of these junctions has been different for different geometries. We present a unified modelling approach based on a common set of approximations related to the electric field/potential distributions, and obtain simple analytical formulas for the depletion width, and the field and potential distributions. We show that the depletion width dependence on potential drop and inverse of doping varies from being square root in bulk to linear in atomically thin layers and exponential in nanowires/nanotubes. Further, we propose an effective medium theory, showing that an array of nanoscale junctions behaves as a bulk junction with effective permittivity and doping.

Talk Title: Power Electronics Energy System (PEES)

Abstract:  Driven by innovations in power semiconductor technology, decreased cost in solar, wind and energy storage technology, and the strong need to decarbonize every sector of our society, power electronics-based generations are positioned to replace today’s synchronous generator as the governing generation technology in the future. Simultaneously, electrifications on the load side are also power electronics based, hence creating a power electronics energy system (PEES) that encompasses generation, transmission, distribution and load. Due to the flexible and fast controllability of power converters, PEES can potentially outperform today’s energy system and achieve higher energy efficiency. A complete DC based PEES is also feasible. However, there are many challenges in designing and operating a PEES. This talk will provide an overview of power electronics technology, focusing on the state of the art from hardware and control point of view. New opportunities enabled by emerging power electronics technology in grid applications will be highlighted. The talk will also discuss gaps and research needs for a power-electronics based grid.

Talk Title: Up-conversion of terahertz phonons via nonlinear coupling

Abstract:  In this work, we demonstrate dynamic control of the lattice by using THz radiation. We use THz pulses with intense electric fields (~ kV/cm) to induce lattice non-linearities, which allow us to couple the low energy phonon modes to higher energy, silent optical phonon modes at ≈ 1.17 THz in the spin-ladder system, Sr14Cu24O41. Due to the coupling, we observe an enhancement in the transmission spectrum, i.e., transmittance > 1, near 1.17 THz. Hence, we demonstrate that it is possible to control inaccessible phonon modes with THz radiation indirectly. This provides opportunities to alter such material systems’ electronic and magnetic properties dynamically using THz radiation.

Talk Title: Interfacial Stabilization of Electrode Materials for Energy Storage

Abstract:  Understanding fundamental degradation mechanisms of electrode materials (EMs) , and their mitigation strategies, are challenged by constraints of the liquid electrolyte environment and the complexity of electrode/electrolyte interphase formation, namely the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer which forms, grows, and changes (on the electrode interface) with battery usage. In my talk I will demonstrate how surface modification significantly suppress the degradation of the battery components (e.g. electrodes, and electrolyte) and facilitates long-term stability of the electrochemical device.
I will demonstrate how in our lab, we modify the surface of the EMs by either thin protection layer applied on its interface (using atomic layer deposition- ALD), or by surface reduction of high voltage cathode materials.

Talk Title: Steep-Slope Technology for Continued Scaling: Prospective and Recent Developments

Abstract:  Steep-Slope technology is considered as a booster for high-performance AI and ML integrated circuits. Industry is actively looking beyond traditional CMOS devices as it is increasingly difficult to meet device level challenges posed by emerging AI, ML and IoT applications. This is largely due to the fact that such applications simultaneously require high performance, low power and high integration. ITRS 2.0 also lists SS technology as the only solution for power challenges. In this talk, we will discuss recent developments and challenges associated with the SS technology.

Talk Title: Advances in Optical Vortex Lasers (Invited Talk)

Abstract:  In this invited talk, we will introduce recent advances in optical vortex lasers, including reconfigurable and tunable twisted light laser, metasurface-assisted orbital angular momentum carrying Bessel-Gaussian laser, integrated high-speed directly modulated cylindrical vector beam laser, and all-fiber wavelength-switchable orbital angular momentum laser assisted by fiber Bragg grating and Fabry-Perot interferometer directly inscribed in erbium-doped fiber with femtosecond laser. Finally, we will also discuss future perspectives of optical vortex lasers.

Talk Title: Diamond Electron Devices for Extreme Environment Electronics

Abstract:  Diamond has emerged as a very promising ultra-wide bandgap (5.47 eV) elemental Gr – IV semiconductor material with characteristic high breakdown field, high thermal conductivity,
high electron and hole mobilities (μ_n: 4500 cm2/V · s and μ_p: 3800 cm2/V · s), and high saturation velocities (ν_sat: 1 × 10^7 cm/s) for extreme environment, and high-power electronic applications.
In this talk we will discuss the background motivation and intuitive picture behind extreme environment physical characteristics, and their interaction with semiconductor devices. Here, we will briefly explore the need of wide-gap and ultra wide-gap semiconductor based devices for reliable and robust operations in extreme environments of space electronics, nuclear technologies and high-energy scientific instrumentation etc. Towards the end of the talk, we will discuss the key highlights of device modeling and simulation efforts to engineer and explore the devices physics of Diamond based unipolar electron devices (MOSFETs and Schottky Diodes) in LPER (Research Lab @ IITH) for extreme environment electronics.

Talk Title: Highly-Integrated mm-Wave Systems for Radar Applications in CMOS and SiGe Technologies

Abstract:  This talk focusses on system and circuit design considerations for highly-integrated radar transceivers in CMOS and SiGe HBT technologies. The speaker will first provide motivation for realization of radar sensors at mm-wave frequencies by showing the possible applications. Then, frequency band allocations for radar at mm-wave frequencies are discussed. Next, speaker will discuss system level consideration in detail, such as level budget calculation, phase noise considerations, and design of the analog baseband.
Next, technology-dependent considerations and challenges related to critical building blocks are discussed. Then, the speaker will present several design examples of integrated radar transceivers operating at 60-GHz, 140-GHz and 300-GHz and will discuss the circuit architectures. The talk is rounded out by a vision and trends in MIMO radar array realizations.

Talk Title: Programmable Silicon Photonic Circuits

Abstract:  

Programmable photonic circuits are chips that manipulate light, and where the flow of light can be configured through a layer of electronics and software. This contrasts strongly with most photonic chips today, which have a fixed flow of light, custom-designed for one application. Programmability on a photonic chip means that the connectivity and functionality can be reconfigured, or even completely synthesized at run time. This is reminiscent of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or digital signal processors (DSP) used in digital electronics. We discuss the basic photonic technology blocks for programmable photonic circuits, and the technological layers around these chips to make them programmable. The programmability in itself significantly lowers the threshold to experiment with photonic circuits, and could accelerate adoption and application developments.

Talk Title: High Energy and High Power Supercapacitors Using Nanocomposites for Consumer Electronics

Abstract:  There is an indispensable demand for development of alternative energy sources which would partially or completely replace the utilization of conventional fossil fuels as the combustion of fossil fuels leads to adverse effects on the environmental eco-system. Among electrochemical energy systems, supercapacitors have huge potentials for meeting the power requirements of consumer electronics which require high power. In particular, power density of the conventional lithium-ion battery (LIB) is not suitable, hence, high power device is demanded for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). However, low voltage and poor energy density of the supercapacitors are to be upgraded. In this talk, recent progress made on the electrode materials, in particular, oxide-based nanocomposites for high energy and high power supercapacitors/supercapattery would be presented.

Talk Title: “Topo-tronic” device modeling- Proposal for steep sub-threshold topological FET devices

Abstract:  Using state-of-the-art quantum transport based device modeling, we propose novel “topo-tronic”device constructs – providing an effective route to channelize the tantalising possibilities offered by topological quantum materials for emerging device design [1]. We propose a topological quantum field-effect transistor (TQFET) that be engineered to enable sub-thermionic transistor operation coupled with dissipationless ON-state conduction. Detailing the complex band translation physics related to the quantum spin Hall effect phase transition, It is the demonstrated transitions between the quantum spin-valley Hall (QSVH) and the spin quantum anomalous Hall (SQAH) phase can ultimately ensure the topological robustness of the ON state while surpassing the thermionic limit. We finally comment on other systems like superconducting hybrid systems that rely on Rashba spin-orbit coupling for advanced device functionalities and also a peek into our current ventures on understanding dephasing across topological channels [3].
References:
[1] K. Jana and B. Muralidharan, npj 2D Materials and Applications, 6, 19, (2022).
[2] S. Banerjee et.al., ArXiv: 2202.12044 (2022) (in revision at Phys Rev Applied).
[3] A. Basak, P. Brahma and B. Muralidharan, J. Phys D: Appl. Phys., 55, 075302, (2021).

Talk Title: An insect-inspired collision detector based on atomically thin and light-sensitive 2D memtransistors

Abstract:  Collision detection under poor illumination and nightly conditions pose significant challenge for manned and unmanned vehicles, flying drones, and robots navigating complex terrestrial and extraterrestrial geographies. Existing night vision cameras offer solution based on sophisticated enhancement algorithms or additional thermal sensors necessitating extensive and expensive hardware, which make them power-hungry and untenable for deployment in remote and resource constrained locations. In contrast, nocturnal flying insects can avoid collision using very limited neural resources. Insect-inspired collision detectors based on silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology and field programmable gate arrays also exist, however, the physical separation between sensing and compute and absence of spike-based information processing capability increases their area and energy overhead. Here, we introduce an insect-inspired, spike-based, and in-sensor collision detector using a reconfigurable optoelectronic integrated circuit constructed based on atomically-thin and light-sensitive memtransistors. We imitate the escape response of lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) neuron found in many insect species and demonstrate timely collision detection for various real-life scenarios at night involving cars on collision course. Our collision detector has a small effective footprint of 40 µm2 and consumes miniscule energy of few hundreds pico-Joules.

Talk Title: Integrated sensors in precision medecine and agriculture

Abstract:  In this talk we will present the design and implementation of monolithic and hybrid sensors using integrated circuits. We will show case two examples in precision medecine and agriculture. First, we present a plant-wearable electrochemical sensor for in situ detection of salicylic acid. The sensor utilizes microneedle-based electrodes that are functionalized with a layer of salicylic acid selective magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers. In addition we will present a laser-scribed graphene (LSG) sensors coupled with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a stable promising biosensing platform. This Point of care (PoC) device is highly demanding to control current pandemic, originated from severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).The sensor was integrated to a homemade and portable potentistat device, wirelessly connected to a smartphone having a customized application for easy operation.

Talk Title: Use Cost per Ampere delivered ($/ARMS) as a Design Decision Metric for Selecting Power Devices

Abstract:  With many device technologies available today, it is difficult for designers to choose a device using just the data sheet parameters.
Different device technologies have different trade-offs between conduction, switching parameter and thermal performance. Using these parameters to select a device gets complex.
RMS current delivered by a device is a result of the losses generated by it and its thermal performance so, using it to select a device will optimize the choice.
Further, best cost-performance balance can be optimized by comparing cost per Ampere ($/ARMS) delivered using the cost of the devices.
We will present some examples in this paper.

Talk Title: Dynamic performance of wide bandgap devices

Abstract:  This presentation will review some important non-idealities causing a lower dynamic performance in wide bandgap power devices. After an introduction on the most relevant wide bandgap semiconductors, the experimental analysis and modeling of the surface effects will be presented, based on a physically-consistent theoretical modeling of the stretched exponential function. A complete model for the conduction processes in isolation structures will be developed, based not only on the emission behavior but also on the filling kinetics. Finally, the trapping mechanisms in gate insulators causing a logarithmic time dependence of the filling and recovery processes will be investigated according to the inhibition model.

Talk Title: Hybrid 2D/CMOS microchips for memristive applications

Abstract:  Two-dimensional layered materials (2D-LMs) materials have outstanding electronic and thermal properties that make them attractive for the fabrication of solid-state micro/nano-electronic devices and circuits. However, synthesizing high-quality 2D-LMs at the wafer scale is difficult, and integrating them in semiconductor production lines brings associated multiple challenges. In this invited talk, I will discuss the state-of-the-art on micro/nano-electronic devices made (entirely or partially) of 2D-LMs, the most sophisticated circuits ever constructed, and the fabrication of hybrid 2D/CMOS microchips. I will put special emphasis on devices that employ hexagonal boron nitride, the only 2D-LM with an enough high band gap to be employed as dielectric. I will also discuss the main technological challenges to face in the next years and provide some recommendations on how to solve them.

Talk Title: Nonlinear optical frequency conversion in multimode adiabatic submicron tapers

Abstract:  I will describe our experimental works on high-efficiency nonlinear optical frequency conversion in multimode nanofibers. We successfully fabricate silica-glass submicron tapers that allow the simultaneous adiabatic transmission of multiple spatial modes. Such multimode adiabatic submicron tapers offer a new opportunity to observe nonlinear and quantum optical effects with unique vectorial properties and implement novel types of multimode photonic quantum information processing. We also demonstrate a widely tunable ultra-narrow-linewidth pulsed laser source suitable for experiments with multimode nanofibers. If time permits, I will also introduce recent efforts to engineer cavity soliton states in a nonlinear fiber resonator, where nonlinear effects other than the Kerr effect are incorporated to alter the conventional Kerr cavity dynamics.

Talk Title: Integrated silicon photonics with on-chip lasers

Abstract:  Integrated Si photonics has sparked a significant ramp-up of investment in both academia and industry as a scalable, power-efficient, and eco-friendly solution. At the heart of this platform is the light source, which has been the focus of research extensively. This talk tries to tackle this issue from two perspectives: heterogeneous integration based on wafer bonding and monolithic integration based on direct epitaxial growth. We will talk about the current state of application-driven on-chip silicon lasers. We expect to inspire further development in incorporating photonic integrated circuits with on-chip lasers for substantial performance gains, green solutions, and mass production.

Talk Title: Design, Fabrication, Characterization & Modeling of a 1 GHz RF MEMS resonator for oscillator application

Abstract: The phenomenal accuracy and temperature stability of quartz oscillators has enabled it to rule the frequency control and timing devices market for around 100 years. It may sound ironic that despite quartz being a pure crystalline form of SiO2, it isn’t compatible with the Silicon IC fabrication process. This prevents any possibility of on-chip integration and creates a bottleneck to the size reduction of electronic systems and circuit boards. One solution for this is to replace the quartz crystal with a MEMS based resonator which is CMOS process compatible. In this seminar, I will describe the design, fabrication, characterization and modeling of an RF MEMS resonator operating at around 1 GHz.

Talk Title: Toward the Next Generation of Wearables for Health Monitoring

Abstract:  Wearable electronics are a group of electronic devices and sensors with broad applications in mobile health care, Internet of Things (IoT) and Human Machine Interfaces (HMI). Nanomaterials possess extraordinary, electrical, chemical, optical and mechanical properties that can be utilized for the development of the next generation of wearables. In this talk a group of nano materials based non-intrusive wearables with superior performance and visual imperceptibility and their applications for electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG), electromyography (EMG), Electrooculography (EOG), sensing skin temperature and hydration, human machine interface and IoT will be presented.

Talk Title: Developing a research foundry for quantum systems

Abstract:  Quantum technologies in general and quantum computing (QC) in particular is predicted to be one of the most disrupting among the emerging technologies. Therefore translation of this technology is happening at a neck break speed. As an example, small scale quantum computers are now available as software as a service (SaaS) offered by leading corporates as well as startups. Even though the current backend quantum hardware are too noisy to yield any useful quantum advantage, they are the best playground to explore the potential of quantum computers. Given the complexity of developing a full stack QC, it is essential to develop a library of quantum devices. At the National Quantum Foundry, we develop superconducting circuit chips along with integrated ion traps, photonics circuits and Si-donor qubits.

Talk Title: Low dimensional silicon and layered transition metal chalcogenides based THz detectors and modulators

Abstract:  The terahertz (THz) technology has been experienced rapid advancement in numerous potential applications in the last few years. This includes imaging, communication, material spectroscopy, security, and the bio-medical field. In the first part, a single silicon nanowire (NW) junctionless field-effect transistor (FET) based THz detector will be discussed. The maximum responsivity is observed around 0.425 THz, with a peak value of 468 V/W. Further, another class of THz detector employing type-II topological Dirac semimetal platinum telluride (PtTe2) has been manifested in the 0.1-1.5 THz frequency range. The broadband optical THz modulators will be covered in the 2nd part. These modulators are based on the new class of TMDs such as Platinum diselenide (PtSe2), Tantalum disulfide (TaS2), and Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The TMDs have been incorporated in the optical-controlled semiconductor-based THz modulators to improve modulation efficiency in modulation depth (~ 80%) and speed.

Talk Title: Engineering CFETs for A5 nodes and beyond

Abstract:  Complementary FET (CFET) is a promising candidate to push CMOS scaling beyond nanosheets and forksheets. CFET is formed by stacking an NMOS and PMOS device on top of each other. Area scaling is achieved by moving the N/P separation from the horizontal plane to the vertical plane. Fabrication of a CFET introduces significant integration challenges as we move away from the conventional processes used for CMOS devices. In this talk, we discuss how to fabricate a CFET (monolithic and sequential), the integration challenges that come with it, and potential areas where innovations are needed to enable this complex device architecture.

Talk Title: NexGen Vertical GaN™ Fin-JFET: Fast Switching and Exceptional Robustness

Abstract:  We present the results of NexGen’s 700V and 1200V normally-off vertical GaN Fin-JFETs. The transistors exhibit small switching losses with no reverse recovery. Switching at 3MHz+ and 1200V is demonstrated. The device can sustain a single-pulse critical avalanche energy density of 10J/cm2 (highest reported in GaN transistors) and >3500 repetitive avalanche pulses. The avalanche current path can be tuned through the gate or the source. The short-circuit withstanding time of 700V Fin-JFETs is 30.5µs at a VBUS of 400V and 11.6µs at 800V, all among the longest reported for 600-700V normally-off transistors. In repetitive 400V/10μs short-circuit tests, Fin-JFETs showed no degradation after 30,000 cycles. These results set a record for GaN transistors and demonstrate equivalent to superior robustness compared to Si and SiC devices.

Talk Title: Reliability aware CMOS neuromorphic circuits

Abstract:  Neuromorphic circuits are gaining popularity due to their application in ANNs. These circuits have low power consumption, better prediction accuracy and are faster than conventional Von-Newman architecture based circuits. The spiking events are really very important in these circuits. Any deviation in spiking may can cause mis communication and led to false prediction. There are certain blocks identified in the neuron circuits which are highly sensitive to degradation. This can cause faulty spiking, positional shift in spiking etc. By mitigating the impact of reliability on those circuit we can minimize the impact of device reliability and hence can make our neuron more reliable.

Talk Title: Impact of Halide Ion Migration on the Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract:  The intrinsic ionic defects, specifically halide ion vacancies, often dictate the mobility of halide species within the metal halide perovskite film during the operation of solar cells. Of particular interest is the halide ion mobility in mixed halide perovskites, which offer an insight into the halide ion migration. The origin of processes leading to halide migration is investigated using mixed halide perovskite films. Both hole trapping at I-site and the defect mediated migration influence the mobility of iodide species under photoirradiation. The iodide species migrating toward the grain boundaries render the mixed halide film phase-segregated under photoirradiation. Ways to suppresses the halide ion mobility through introduction of Cs at the A-site will be discussed.

Talk Title: Role of exchange-correlation functionals in migration barrier predictions

Abstract:  A critical factor that influences the rate performance of batteries is the diffusion of the electroactive ions in the active materials, i.e., solid electrodes and/or electrolytes, which in turn is largely influenced by the ionic migration barriers (Em) within host frameworks. Determining Em precisely using experimental techniques, such as electrochemical impedance, variable temperature nuclear magnetic resonance, etc. is not a trivial task. Computationally, evaluating Em is often done via density functional theory (DFT)-based nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations or ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Typically, DFT-NEB can yield a direct estimate of Em in a given material, while AIMD relies on statistical sampling of migration events (which becomes more difficult with increasing Em values). Hence, DFT-NEB is the preferred computational choice to determine Em. However, the accuracy of DFT-NEB calculations in estimating Em is dependent on the choice of exchange-correlation (XC) functionals, and the errors associated with using different XC frameworks has not been accurately quantified yet. Hence, in the first part of my talk, I will focus on assessing the accuracy of different XC frameworks (versus experiments) in estimating Em in a wide variety of electrode and solid electrolyte materials. Importantly, we find that the strongly constrained and appropriately normed functional yields better accuracy of Em on average, albeit with significant convergence difficulties and notable exceptions of high inaccuracy, while the generalised gradient approximation provides robust qualitative trends in its Em predictions. I will also discuss about the role of uniform background charge and the climbing image approximation in Em predictions.

Talk Title: Significance of Operando Investigations for Understanding the Electrochemical Mechanism of Battery Materials

Abstract:  As far as electromobility is concerned, Li-ion battery (LIB) is at the forefront of current energy storage systems. In a LIB, positive electrode (cathode) is the capacity limiting and negative electrode (anode) is important for determining the safety. In this regard, several electrode materials (anode or cathode) are proposed or developed, those claim to exhibit superior performance in terms of efficiencies, rate capability, discharge capacity, etc. One of the key factors considered during development of novel electrode materials for battery technology is the cost and availability of the elements present. For e.g., Iron and Manganese may be preferred over Cobalt or Vanadium for novel materials as both Co and V are considered less abundant critical elements. Hence, more new materials are expected to be developed in the future and for this operando investigation is extremely important. The talk will give an overview of operando techniques used for investigating battery materials.

Talk Title: Investigating Alternate Transport Mechanisms for novel ESD device development

Abstract:  Majority of the ESD devices using the CMOS technology uses with drift-diffusion transport mechanism or avalanche triggered bipolar action. This work explores the applicability of controlled impact ionization and band to band tunneling mechanisms for the ESD device development. Various testcases are evaluated through 3D-TCAD simulations, TLP and VFTLP measurements.

Talk Title: In-Memory Sensing for the Digital Transformation

Abstract:  Since its emergence, Internet-of-Things (IoT) has brought numerous benefits to our lives throughout different fields including healthcare, defense, agriculture and transportation, where interconnected “intelligent” sensors communicate seamlessly over the internet. As IoT devices become more widespread, massive amounts of data are being generated by the hour and sent to the cloud which leads to several problems in terms of network congestion, slower connection and increased power consumption. This suggests that future IoT devices need to be smarter such that they are able to make decisions rather than just send data to the cloud. Smarter devices suggests that smarter electronic devices need to be integrated including smart memory devices that can sense, which will be the focus of this talk.

Talk Title: Progress, Challenges and Prospects with CdTe Photovoltaics Technology

Abstract:  CdTe-based PV technology has evolved from being an “interesting material experiment” to a commercially viable and successful PV solution over the past 20 years. Owing to the ease of manufacturing, material availability and utilization, and inherent tolerance to defects the research efforts have provided rich returns. In this talk, the various improvements in device structure and the fundamental understanding of the material properties that led to improvement in performance will be discussed. Future trajectories for improvement in performance and possible causes for efficiency improvements beyond 22% record efficiency will also be discussed. In addition to these aspects, questions pertaining to material availability and safety will be addressed. The aim is acquaint the audience with the progress, challenges and prospects of CdTe PV technology.

Talk Title: How Silicon Power Devices are withstanding the onslaught from WBG Devices

Abstract:  With interesting new technological developments in power semiconductors, a lot of focus has been on the WBG devices and their promised performance enhancements. However, the tried and tested silicon devices are still holding their own and their longevity is attributable to continuing advances in both device technology and packaging technology that make them attractive to the end users in the power electronics community. Some of these recent technology advances will be outlined in this talk, accompanied by examples of how they are enabling more energy efficient, compact and cost-effective power conversion solutions.

Talk Title: Co-design from processes to circuits and application of machine-learning for device-variability prediction

Abstract:  In this talk, we will discuss how can we co-design semiconductor processes, devices, and circuits, with the help of couple of case studies. Benefits of such co-design at a cutting-edge node will also be discussed. In the next part, machine-learning based device variability prediction framework will be discussed.

Talk Title: Status report on silicon heterojunction solar cell and related PV technologies

Abstract:  The talk aims at giving an introduction and an overview on silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell technology as a next-generation mainstream PV mass product. Firstly, the device concept together with a historical review will be introduced. Then, a report on the current status of this technology from research, industry and supply chain point of view should reveal the potential and challenge of this technology in the near future. In addition, this contribution will adress the perovskite–SHJ-tandem solar cell as a technology to overcome the 30% efficiency threshold.

Talk Title: Single Layer Substitution Doped Graphene FET: From Numerical Model to Extremely Closed-Form Region-wise Model and Application to Synaptic Plasticity

Abstract:  A phenomenological all region self-consistent drain current model for B/N substitution doped GFET is developed. The effects of B/N doping such as: shift in Dirac points and induced non-zero bandgaps are explicitly captured in this model. However, the self-consistent model only permits numerical solution and it requires precise initial assumption, which makes computationally exhaustive. Hence, a simplified region-wise potential-based analytical model is established for B/N doped GFET. The extreme closed-form analytical nature of region-wise model with computational efficiency makes it highly beneficial to establish a compact model for mimicking the device behavior in circuits. The synaptic devices based on B/N doped GFET have been modeled by utilizing the interface traps to manifest dynamic mimicking of synaptic plasticity.

Talk Title: Laser integrated nanophotonics on an InP membrane

Abstract:  Recent progress in the InP membrane on Si (IMOS) platform will be reviewed. This platform features native laser integration with nanophotonic components on a 300nm thick photonic membrane based on InP material system. The twin-guide active-passive integration strategy enables wafer scale high-density integration of amplifiers and lasers. Large scale nanostructures such as metalens can be realized in the same process flow. Thanks to its high optical confinement, novel materials such as phase change materials can be integrated onto the platform and enable new functions. This technology has high potential for a range of emerging applications including optical wireless communications, non-contact sensing and metrology.

Talk Title: Endeavoring to make a solar battery

Abstract:  Devising energy schemes that merge energy capture with energy storage have gained momentum over the last few years. The impetus stems from utilizing solar radiation efficiently in terms of not only capturing it but also viably storing it in the form of either solar fuels or as electrical storage. The latter technology is still emerging especially in terms of evolving the conceptual idea of directly storing solar radiation as opposed to forming devices that consist of independent batteries/supercapacitors that are separately coupled with solar cells. Hence it can be considered that the integrated system is composed of two kinds of materials: light harvesting and a storage component. Light harvesting component consists of materials that are capable of absorbing light and generating extractable charge carriers, while, energy storage component consists of materials that can trap the charges and store them during periods of illumination, and subsequently release them under discharge conditions.
The talk will present some concepts that are currently available in literature as to how to form such integrated systems and I will also discuss our work where we have used an alternate strategy for coupling energy capture and storage in that the aim has been to create a strategy that minimizes interfaces and so in principle can lead to better performance and charge transport efficiency.

Talk Title: Scaling and device physics of amorphous oxide thin-film transistors

Abstract:  Thin-film transistor (TFTs) channel lengths need to shrink as performance requirements get more demanding for several applications. The switching speed and current drive capability are expected to improve as channel lengths reduce for most field-effect transistors. In many TFTs, contact resistance issues get severe at small channel length. Additionally, the physics of charge transport and basic performance characteristics can change quite substantially at small channel. We will review these properties for amorphous metal oxide TFTs with channel lengths in the range 50 nm – 5 micrometers. A new design for TFTs, based on the use of nanospike electrodes will be presented that greatly mitigates both the contact-resistance problem and short-channel effects as well as reduces DIBL and results in excellent sub-threshold and above threshold characteristics.

Talk Title: SiGe/CMOS Technologies for Ku/Ka band SATCOM

Abstract: The concept of delivering internet connectivity from space is gaining widespread attention. This talk aims to cover various challenges at system, circuit, device and technology level in implementing ground terminals of SATCOM.

Talk Title: Voltage control of nanoscale magnets: energy efficient non-volatile memory, neuromorphic computing and quantum control of spin qubits

Abstract: The key problem with magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is the high current requirement and energy dissipation to write information. This can be solved with electrical field control of magnetization in nanoscale magnets that have the potential to be extremely energy efficient. Our group’s research focuses on using this paradigm towards implementation of energy efficient non-volatile memory [2], neuromorphic computing devices [3] such a quantized synapses and reservoir computers amenable to implement on edge/IoT devices. Furthermore, by tuning the frequency of the such nanomagnet’s electric field drive to the Larmor frequency of spin qubits, single-qubit quantum gates with fidelities needed for fault-tolerant quantum computing [4] can be implemented. These device applications will be discussed.

References: [1] Nature Electronics 3, 539, 2020; [2] https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.13527 [3] https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.16720

Talk Title: DNA based electrically readable high-density read only memory array

Abstract: 

We will discuss the concept of an electrically readable memory where the logic states are stored in the resistance of double stranded DNA [1]. These memory elements can in principle be connected to bit and word line nanowires fabricated using DNA origami [2]. We will discuss our effort in modeling the conductance of DNA and the performance metrics of a memory array formed using DNA memory elements. As origami nanowires with a high conductance are yet to be fabricated, we will model the array performance for a variety of interconnect resistances ranging from those of carbon nanotubes to much higher resistances. We will end the talk by discussing the challenges that need to be overcome to realize the proposed memory array. [Work done in collaboration with Professors Das, Hihath, Ke, Kubendran, Oren and our students via an SRC grant and NSF Grant Numbers 1807391 (SemiSynBio Program) and 2036865 (Future of Manufacturing).]

[1] Arpan De, Hashem Mohammed, Yiren Wang, Arindam K. Das, M. P. Anantram, Performance Analysis of DNA Crossbar Arrays for High-Density Memory Storage Applications, In review

[2] Joshua Hihath, M. P. Anantram, Yonggang Ke, Nucleic acid-based electrically readable, read-only memory, US Patent App. 17/253,088, 2022

Talk Title: DTCO for Advanced Technology Device and Circuit Designs

Abstract:  For sub-10 nm technology nodes, the pitch scaling began to slow down, and it is expected to cease as it reaches 1 nm node. To keep the pace of transistor density increments at 45% density increase per node, industry is employing sophisticated Design-Technology Co- Optimization (DTCO) methodologies. Gate All Around FETs (GAAFETs) have been introduced as an advanced to the FinFET architectures, with specific advantages of GAAFETs over FinFETs: i) increased gate control by having the gate all around the channel, and ii) higher transistor density by utilizing the vertical structure with multiple channel regions per fin. In this work, we will analyze the quantum confinement effects due to small cross section of GAAFET channels on the device gate capacitance. To achieve the best possible Power-Performance-Area (PPA) trade-off of logic circuits, need to optimize the 3-D structure of the device for reduced parasitic components. A comprehensive optimization DTCO methodology is required to achieve the target results.

Talk Title: Role of Defects on the Variability of STT-MRAMs and 3D CT NANDs

Abstract:  Spin-transfer torque magnetic RAMs (STT-MRAM) and three-dimensional (3D) charge-trapping (CT) NAND flash devices are considered to be highly prospective for next generation memory and neuromorphic applications owing to their small-footprints, scalability and compatibility with existing CMOS process technologies. Small dimensionalities, as well as inherently stochastic switching characteristics of STT-MRAMs, make these devices significantly prone to device-to-device and cycle-to-cycle variations. The stochastic nature of the charge capture/release processes associated with Program/Erase cycles of 3D CT-NANDs make these devices susceptible to device-to-device variabilities as well. In this work, based on experiments and simulations, the speaker will present recent results pertaining to the role of defects on the variability of memory and neuromorphic related performance metrics of STT-MRAMs and 3D CT NANDs.

Talk Title: Electronic skin – sensing the world around us and within us

Abstract:

The presentation will focus on stretchable and wearable electronics which represents a new wave in devices which can bend, flex, and stretch. My work seeks to transform conventional hard electronics into soft and unbreakable products, thin enough to create electronic skin. We realise thin electronic patches that adhere to the skin that can mimic body functionality, measure and diagnose, monitoring environment around, on, and within us. These next-gen stretchable electronics for a diverse range of current and visionary applications are being commercialised with Australian industry. Examples include skin-worn sensors to warn people about harmful UV and nicotine levels, wearables for health monitoring, and nearables in bedding.

The presentation will cover the decade long journey to realise conformal electronics – these include the fundamental research to solve technical challenges to integrate high performing rigid oxide materials with soft polymeric rubber platforms. Besides the applied outcomes, the fundamental research has also helped push the boundary on creating artificial somatosensors – electronic skin which mimics the properties of real skin.

Talk Title: Contacts to MX2 2D materials: Integration and performance challenges in the Lab and FAB environments

Abstract: This presentation reports recent progress on contact performance of 2D devices from the perspective of transitioning into a 300 mm wafer FAB environment. While in Lab research identification of best performing contact material and process, and performance estimation methods are the primary challenges, in the 300 mm FAB the main challenges are manufacturable-compatibility of materials, and adapting existing integration to address 2D-specific challenges. Optimization of material growth, wafer structure, and integration in the FAB are observed to continuously improve contact performance, closing the gap with the best demonstrated values in the Lab environment.

Talk Title: Modeling and Simulation in Semiconductor Processes and Manufacturing

Abstract: As the semiconductor processes are getting more complex, the role of modeling and simulation is becoming more important. Semiconductor process technology development faces many challenges through multiple phases of material selection process, selection of unit processes and process integration options and through multiple production cycles. The challenge for the process development is to attain nanometer level accuracy in a meter scale chamber where chemical bonds are formed in picoseconds but process runs for minuets. Different class of models are used at different levels of process definition and development. The challenges and the advantages of these models in solving high value problems in process development and manufacturing will be discussed in this presentation.

Talk Title: High-Capacity Organic Redox Flow Battery

Abstract: To combat global warming, redesigning of the world energy-consuming structure is imminent. India’s solar power tariff has fallen below 3.2¢/kWh, and the international tariff of solar thermal storage power is US$0.063/kWh, which are cheaper than that of fossil fuel plants. Therefore, in the future, solar power cost will become the benchmark for deciding the other fuel prices. Renewables sources are seasonal, therefore there is a requirement for low cost energy storage option to store the excess energy for prolonged time period. Considering the longevity, capacity, availability of raw materials and safety, non-flammable aqueous electrolyte-based redox flow batteries are the choice.

Talk Title: Advances in Silicon Power Semiconductor Devices

Abstract: Silicon power MOSFETs have made tremendous advancements in the past decade. The key concept that has led to this is that of charge balance. In conventional power MOSFET device the maximum doping level and the thickness of the drift region is limited by blocking voltage constraints and a triangular electric field results in its sub-optimal utilization.
The concept of charge balance involves adding an opposite polarity of charge in the drift region compared to default doping to modify the shape of electric field from triangular to trapezoidal for better utilization of drift region for voltage blocking, and allow significantly higher doping concentration for lower conduction losses. For low voltages (below 400V) the popular device structure to achieve this is the Split Gate Transistor (SGT). This device utilizes trench MOS charge balance with a shield electrode under the gate. In addition to significantly improving the On Resistance per unit area (~3x for 100V blocking), the shield electrode also significantly reduced the gate to drain miller capacitance (Crss) and Crss/Ciss ratio to allow for high frequency switching.
For high voltages above 400V, the depth of trench and thickness of liner oxide make SGT device impractical to fabricate. As a result, the Super-Junction transistor has emerged as the most successful MOSFET for high voltages. This device utilizes alternating P and N columns in the drift region thereby creating a charge balance. Methods such as multi epi, deep trench and fill have been demonstrated and are commercially successful for making superjunction transistors. These can achieve an On-Resistance reduction of up to 8x compared to planar DMOS transistor. However, presence of alternating P and N columns also results in peculiar Capacitance curves, particularly the Crss which drops sharply at low drain biases and then increases at higher drain biases. It also exhibits snappy diode reverse recovery.
Charge balanced structure is also finding use in bipolar devices such as IGBT and Fast recovery diodes. In these devices, charge balance is used for various performance enhancements such as improving turn-off losses, injection enhancement, and controlling injection efficiency for faster switching.
The goal of this seminar is to understand the device physics and electrical characteristics of charge balanced devices in unipolar and bipolar power devices. This seminar is intended for intermediate level audience.

Talk Title: Considerations For ESD Robust Output Driver Design

Abstract: A robust driver structure in an I/O plays a vital role in protection against the ESD events. This study explores various Driver topologies – single MOS structure driver and Multiple MOS stack structures possible for any interface design. The role of breakdown parameters (It2, Vt2) of the driver MOS, Gate conditions, parasitic diodes, common active vs separate active on driver breakdown. We have also explored the use of series resistance along with the driver structure and derived an effective R*W for any driver design. In the end we have summarized the best approach of ESD robustness without compromising I/O functionality based on our I/O design silicon experience.

Talk Title: Role of Sub-oxides in LPCVD of β-Ga2O3

Abstract: β-Ga2O3 is an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor which is quite promising for high-power device applications due to its high breakdown electric field of ~7-8 MV/cm and availability of melt-grown bulk substrates. Several epitaxial techniques have been explored for thin film growth of this material. Among these techniques, low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) is quite promising due to its high growth rates, good material quality, and controlled doping capability. In this talk, the current status of β-Ga2O3 LPCVD will be presented along with some new experimental results which highlight the importance of suboxide formation and desorption during LPCVD of β-Ga2O3.

Talk Title: A Comparative study of GAN-on-silicon with SiC Devices in the 5KW-10KW Power range

Abstract: GaN-on-Silicon transistors are gaining traction in the field of AC/DC and DC/DC high voltage power electronics for power levels ranging from 45W to over 10kW. Especially in the power levels ranging from 500W to 10kW, bridge topologies such as totem-pole PFC, half-bridge or full bridge converters, inverters etc. are very popular. In this power range, there is always a tussle between GaN-on-Silicon and Silicon Carbide power devices in terms of efficiency and switching frequencies. In the 650V or 900V class of power devices for these power ranges and topologies, it is important to establish the leader in terms of power density, solution temperature and as well as ease of implementation. This paper and presentation provides a direct comparison of leading GaN-on-Silicon devices and its equivalent Rds(on) Silicon Carbide devices in terms of switching characteristics, reverse conduction, reverse recovery, gate driving that can explain the differences in efficiency at various switching frequencies. The quantum effects will not be considered as this paper will focus on experimental results. In the paper, industry’s leading Transphorm GaN-on-Silicon devices will be compared with leading Silicon Carbide MOSFETs.

Talk Title: Heterogeneously integrated InP-laser on Silicon Photonics realized by micro-transfer printing

Abstract: Silicon photonics have gained immense commercial interest in data-center market and soon it will enter other domains as well including biomedical, space applications and so on. Silicon being an indirect bandgap semiconductor efficient lasing cannot be achieved. Therefore, hybrid or heterogeneous integration techniques are normally used to incorporate laser with silicon photonics (SiP) platform. These techniques of integrating lasers on SiP platform are far from ideal in-terms of volume, cost and yield. Micro-transfer printing is an emerging technology which enables massively parallel integration with high yield and hence bring the cost down. In this talk transfer printing of InP-based laser on SiP chip will be presented.

Talk Title: Fully printed, ultra-flexible and low temperature processed oxide electronics

Abstract: Research on printed electronics was initiated with the invention of easy-to-print organic semiconductors in the last century, whereas, it is only about a decade now that printed oxide semiconductors and devices have come up as a possible competitor to this well-matured organic electronics activity. Here, the oxygen deficient n-type oxides can demonstrate carrier mobility close to polycrystalline silicon, and maintain their band transport even when amorphous in nature. In fact, today the dc performance of these solution-processed oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) is no way inferior to their physical vapor deposited counterparts. However, the limited printing resolution has always posed a major hindrance to achieve high operation frequency. In addition, oxides are often criticized for their high process temperatures, and lack of mechanical flexibility. Unsurprisingly, the ceramic oxides are inherently brittle and demonstrate very little (typically <1%) strain tolerance. In contrast, here in this presentation a couple of novel material and (device) design strategies will be discussed that helps to achieve significantly large (up to 5%) strain tolerance under dynamic mechanical test conditions. At the same time, high frequency operation from several tens of kHz to hundreds of kHz will be demonstrated.

Talk Title: Millimeter Wave Power Amplifier Design

Abstract: Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication systems have attracted significant interest regarding meeting the capacity requirements of the future 5G network. Silicon power amplifier (PA) is one of the key challenging components due to high power efficiency and high energy efficiency requirements due to the inherent drawbacks of silicon processes, including low device speed, large losses, low supply, and breakdown voltages, etc. To overcome these issues, power-combining techniques are widely adopted to overcome the power limitation from a single-channel PA. Among different combining techniques, transformer power-combining provides good features such as wide bandwidth and compact size, and therefore is widely adopted. This talk reveals the evolution of mmWave PAs and present the latest power combiner designs.

Talk Title: Challenges of on-wafer S-parameter characterization of advanced SiGe HBTs at very high frequencies

Abstract: In this talk, we will provide an overview of the challenges that can arise when measuring S-parameters at high frequencies, such as:
– The design of test structures for on-wafer TRL calibration
– The assessment of off-wafer versus on-wafer calibration methods
– The analysis of the impact of the probe geometry on the measurement results
– The investigation of the coupling with neighboring structures
Solutions to improve the measurement quality are also proposed. The presentation concludes with a comparison of the transistor measurements with the HBT compact model “HiCuM”, focusing on the distributed and non-quasistatic effects.

Talk Title: Antimonide based Short Wave Infrared Avalanche Photodiodes for LiDAR applications

Abstract: A low noise linear mode avalanche photodiodes (LmAPDs) is a critically enabling component for eye-safe long range LiDAR and remote sensing applications. Unlike PIN diodes, APDs provide internal gain that can lead to increased signal to noise ratio and suppress downstream circuit noise. We are investigating two antimonide based multipliers, AlGaAsSb and AlInAsSb, on InP substrates. We have recently demonstrate GaAsSb/AlGaAsSb separate absorber charge and multiplier (SACM) heterostructures . We will discuss the technical challenges associated with the design, growth, fabrication and test of these LmAPDs and the potential for the development of these critical APD arrays for active 3D sensing and imaging systems.

Talk Title: Terahertz quasiparticle excitations in complex oxides

Abstract: The implementation of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to unravel the complexity of correlated materials has delivered unprecedented success. In this talk, I’ll present some of the achievements including demonstration of novel quasiparticles such as magnons, eletromagnons, charge-density waves (CDW), Dirac and Weyl fermions, trimerons, Higgs mode, magnetic monopole, etc, primarily in transition metal oxides. This diversity of examples underpin THz spectroscopy as indispensable tool for probing a variety of emergent quasiparticles emerging from electrodynamics of collective, bound and free charge carriers, topological phase, complex spin orders, etc, and their applications in electronic and magnonic photonics in the new era of quantum matter.

Talk Title: More (than Moore) Electrostatic Doping

Abstract: Electrostatic doping is widely emerging as an alternative doping technique to provide high charge carrier densities in nanometer-scale electron devices. In this talk various reported electrostatically doped device architectures and modelling aspects are highlighted. It is shown that in addition to nanometer-scale devices, the electrostatic doping technique can also be effectively utilized in bulk devices especially when elemental metals are replaced by alternative materials, such as transition metal oxides (TMOs) and pure boron. Such materials have a strong potential in, for example, optical and power applications.

Talk Title: Studies on NO2 gas detection using IGZO-based chemoresistive sensors

Abstract: The development of a high-response, stable and reliable NO2 sensor is need of hour. Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide (IGZO), one of many chemoresistive materials, has recently emerged as the best choice due to its unique characteristics such as, high electron mobility (10–100 cm2/(Vs), porous amorphous state, and low growth temperature. This unique properties makes IGZO as a superior candidate for gas detection application. Therefore, to develop high response NO2 gas sensor, this studies focuses on investigation of IGZO thin films sensors under various growth conditions and annealing processes. Thermal annealing techniques such as different ambient, temperature and pressure were systematically explored.

Talk Title: Bipolar lithium-metal battery employing a quasi-solid composite electrolyte

Abstract: Lithium metal is considered as one of the most promising anode candidates for high-energy batteries. However, safety concerns induced by the formation of Li dendrites hinder the practical application. Herein, we report on a thin and flexible hybrid electrolyte composed of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP), a polymer binder, and a small amount of an ionic liquid-based electrolyte. To reinforce the interfacial stability between LATP and Li, we coat an ultrathin polysiloxane-based single-ion conducting polymer on the lithium surface. This enables a substantial performance improvement of Li‖LiNi0.88Co0.09Mn0.03O2 cells, eventually enabling the successful realization of lab-scale bipolar stacked battery cells.

Talk Title: Understanding Interface Conductivity of Graphene with Oxide Semiconductors

Abstract: Oxide semiconductors are technologically promising for several opto-electronic applications. However, Interface conductivity with the semiconductor has been a major issue due to low electron affinity values of the semiconductor and the identification of a good Ohmic contact will be in the interest of device engineers from diverse fields. Using Cu2O we experimentally measure contact resistance with different metals systematically as well as with graphene, a transparent conducting monolayer. Using first principles calculations we justify the measurements as well as observe that graphene-Cu2O heterojunction work function strongly varies with the atomic configuration of the surface. The oxygen terminated surface of Cu2O is observed to have an Ohmic interface for holes making graphene a good transparent interface for Cu2O based hole transport layers of photovoltaics and photon detectors.

Talk Title: Complex oxide membranes as dielectrics for 2D materials

Abstract: With a rapidly growing family of vdW materials, the role of dielectric and metals have become more important than ever. In this talk, we will present a detailed synthesis, and characterization of various complex oxide nanomembranes as a high-k dielectric. We will present a detailed growth study of SrTiO3 (STO) nanomembranes. Using hybrid molecular beam epitaxy that employs a metal-organic precursor, titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), to supply both Ti and oxygen (without the need for additional oxygen), epitaxial STO films were grown directly on a graphene layer transferred on to bulk STO substrate. Films were then successfully exfoliated and transferred onto other substrates. Using Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution X-ray diffraction, we show that the transferred STO membrane is single-crystalline and can be integrated with other vdW materials.

Talk Title: Modeling of N-polar GaN heterostructures and transistors

Abstract:

N-polar GaN offers significant advantages over Ga-polar GaN. For example, transistors realized with N-polar GaN have demonstrated record values high of power density, operating frequency and record low values of ON-resistance [1]. Most of the modeling efforts have focused on the Ga-polar orientation. We show that the key approximations involved in the modeling of Ga-polar devices need to be revisited while modeling N-polar devices. Based on these observations, we present analytical [2] and closed form models to describe the wavefunctions, surface potential and charge in N-polar heterostructures. We also present an extension of this modeling approach to describe the current-voltage characteristics of N-polar GaN transistors.

[1] M. H. Wong and U. K. Mishra, “N-polar III-nitride transistors,” in Semiconductors and Semimetals, vol. 102. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier, 2019, pp. 329–395
[2] Anuja Menokey and Arvind Ajoy, “Air Function Based Model for 2-DEG Charge and Surface Potential in N-Polar Gallium Nitride Heterostructures,” vol 59, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, 2022, pp. 3861 – 3868

Talk Title: An all-electronic true random number generator

Abstract: Generators of random sequences used in cryptographic applications rely on entropy sources for their indeterminism. Physical processes governed by the laws of quantum mechanics are excellent sources of entropy available in nature. However, the read-out from such systems for generating truly random sequences is challenging while maintaining the feasibility of the extraction procedure for real-world applications. I shall present an all-electronic van der Waals heterostructure-based device generating a random sequence with record-high value (>0.98 bits/bit) of min-entropy through the detection of discrete charge fluctuation in a quantum dot embedded in a tunnel junction. The generated high quality random sequence passes tests such as NIST SP 800-90B and NIST SP 800-22.

Talk Title: Multi-scale modeling of devices based on two-dimensional materials heterostructures

Abstract: Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) material-based devices have emerged as a possible successor of Si nanosheet transistors for future technology nodes. To continue scaling transistors on future technologies, we would need to transition to vertical carrier transport where the gate length does not pose a limitation in reducing the contacted gate pitch. Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures based on 2D materials can facilitate the design of vertical transistors. This talk will discuss the multi-scale modeling technique to design and analyze vertical devices based on 2D materials heterostructures. The multi-scale modeling framework will include the atomistic modeling of vdW heterostructures to understand their electronic properties and vertical electron transport. Further, possible device designs will be discussed using a tight-binding Hamiltonian-based quantum transport framework.

Talk Title: Process integration of CMOS technologies, from planar to FinFET

Abstract: In this talk, the challenge and limitation of CMOS scaling will be discussed.
CMOS Scaling has been driven by process integration of new architecture and materials. Continuously scaling and technology innovations, with focus on Front-End-of-Line (FEOL) and Middle-of-Line (MOL) processes, were enabled in the last two decades. Strain engineering and better gate oxide have been improved in early stage to increase device performance, lower supply voltage and leakage. Device architecture from planar to FinFET transistors increases effective width in a given device footprint starting from 14nm technologies. Optimizing Fin material to enhance channel mobility is a challenge. In addition, improving gate to contact pitch over fins and lowering contact resistance are necessary.

Talk Title: Ion conducting metal oxide and its application as gate dielectric of a low operating voltage thin film transistor

Abstract: A thin film of ion-conducting metal oxide (ICMO) contains mobile light ions like Li+, Na+, K+ which originates a high areal capacitance of the film due their ionic polarization. An insulating ICMO has low DC conductivity with high AC conductivity which is suitable for using it as a gate dielectric of a low operating voltage thin film transistor (TFT). In the last decade a significant achievement has been made on solution processed ICMO based metal oxide TFT which can attain a carrier mobility > 20 cm2/Vs with an on/off ratio >105 under 2 V operating voltage. This presentation will focus on the development of these solution processed ICMOs for low operating voltage metal oxide TFT fabrication and its various applications including phototransistor, memory transistor and synaptic transistor.

Talk Title: Neural network accelerators with emerging memory devices: status and challenges

Abstract: In-memory computing (IMC) has emerged as one of the most promising concepts to improve the energy efficiency and throughput of deep neural networks. At the same time, there are several key challenges of adopting emerging memories for IMC, including feasibility, reliability and maturity. This talk will address the status and challenges of IMC from a device perspective. State-of-the-art emerging memories will be compared in terms of conductance and its variation, which play a key role in the inference accuracy and scalability of IMC. A quantitative benchmark will be proposed by assessing throughput, area and energy efficiency for various memory technologies.

Talk Title: Emerging 2-D Material Beyond MoS2: From Fundamental Physics to Applications

Abstract: The demand for lower power consumption and higher integration density in the electronic system has become the main driving force of the industry’s search for devices based on novel 2-D materials. In this talk, I will discuss electronic devices based on emerging two-dimensional materials, such as MoS2, BP, AS2, InSe, GeTe, Ti2S, ReS2, using a multi-scale modeling methodology based on the non-equilibrium Green’s function approach. I will focus on investigating performance limits and advantages of novel 2-D materials for both digital and analog applications with major attention to their performance benefits over silicon counterparts. Further, I will discuss the use of the two-dimensional material channel for multigate devices and provide our perspectives on future developments.

Talk Title: Machine Learning Techniques as Alternative to Physics Based Parametric Device Model Development

Abstract: Continuous innovations in the field of semiconductor device architectures are ongoing to meet the growing demands of higher performance, smaller power budgets, and higher frequency of device operation at smaller form factors. Therefore, electronic design automation (EDA) tools have become essential for the timely simulation and analysis of these devices. Current EDA tools entail the solution of the physics partial differential equations related to the electrostatics and charge transport of semiconductor devices using traditional finite-element/finite-difference methods, as in TCAD. Such simulators are extremely time and memory hungry, especially when probing the performance of the device across massively large parameter spaces. In this talk, I will highlight the opportunities presented by emerging machine learning (ML) techniques as extremely efficient alternatives to the standard rigorous physics-based approach for semiconductor devices. Specifically, my talk will focus on the new concept of prior knowledge-based machine learning as a way to enhance the learning ability and trainability of modern ML techniques.

Talk Title: Uncovering stochastic write-error problems in STT-MRAM using micromagnetic modeling

Abstract: Successful demonstrations of STT-MRAM prototypes in recent years have shown promising performance and reliability for embedded non-volatile memory applications. However, sub-nanosecond switching required for cache applications often is hindered by anomalous write error issues. In this talk, I’ll discuss how micromagnetic modeling can help to understand the root cause of such problems. Another lingering issue is how the magnetic memory behaves in presence of external magnetic field perturbation. I’ll share our modeling results that, for the first time, show how the write error variations in the presence of an external magnetic field can hamper memory operation and impact magnetic immunity.

Talk Title: Practical Strategies for Full Chip ESD checking

Abstract: ESD checking is critical for modern SoC designs. High speed applications, multiple power domains, and shrinking geometries all cause full chip ESD protection schemes to become very complex. It is vital to have a practical and reliable ESD checking methodology for a production design flow. However, design size makes simulation and other traditional ESD checking methods simply impractical or even impossible. This talk presents some strategies used by foundries and EDA vendors to enable realistic full-chip analysis of ESD. The strategies presented will include Rcommon removal (branch point detection), distributed power clamp handling, PG network pruning and others.

Talk Title: Heterogeneous integration and chipletization in FPGAs

Abstract: In the post-Moore’s law era, scaling all I/Ps to the next process node is not always the best choice. In recent years, DTCO advancements have helped standard cells in achieving desirable PPA scaling, but SRAM cells and custom blocks have lagged behind. Today’s FPGAs, like AMD Versal® ACAP (Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform), are using more standard cell logic than ever before, but programmable fabric is still primarily made up of SRAMs and custom layouts. As a result, it is becoming more attractive to adopt some form of chipletization and heterogenous integration to drive future scaling of FPGAs.

Talk Title: Latest Progress on GaN Power Device Technologies for EV Applications

Abstract: GaN power devices are penetrating and improving the efficiency of several consumer applications, including power adapters, power supplies, and DC/DC converters. The next step for GaN is to enter the electric vehicle, where it can boost the efficiency of on-board chargers, auxiliary DC/DC converters and powertrains. As GaN devices enter the EV, a new realm of challenges must be tackled and overcome. In this talk, we’ll review present and future GaN technologies to succeed: high quality and reliability, large periphery 650-V GaN devices for high-power OBCs and powertrains; short-circuit capability for fail-safe operations; 1200-V rating for future 800-V batteries; and bi-directional switches for innovative, more efficient inverter topologies.

Talk Title: On-Chip Learning on Spintronic-Synapse-Based Crossbar Arrays: Device-Level Experiments and System-Level Simulations

Abstract: Non-volatile memory (NVM) devices that exhibit multiple electrically readable and controllable non-volatile conductance states have been widely considered as synaptic elements in analog crossbar arrays for fast and low-energy implementation of neural network (NN) algorithms. In this talk, I first show through experiments and micromagnetic simulations that in a heavy-metal ferromagnetic-metal-heterostructure-based spintronic device exhibiting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, multiple such electrically controllable non-volatile states corresponding to different magnetization configurations are possible, making the device suitable for a synapse. Next, I show device-circuit-system co-design and co-simulation of crossbar arrays using these spintronic synapses and demonstrate on-chip learning of fully connected neural networks (FCNNs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) through them for image classification.

Talk Title: III-N mm-Wave Transistors for Linearity, Efficiency, and Reconfigurability

Abstract: Achieving the vision and promise of millimeter-wave wireless communication systems (e.g. 6G and beyond) requires significant advancements in device technologies. To obtain the high bandwidths required on a mobile platform, devices offering millimeter-wave performance with low power consumption while simultaneously delivering low noise figure, high linearity, and high power efficiency are essential. Reconfigurability in order to support frequency-agile and compact implementations is also critical. The unique properties of the III-N material system (e.g. polarization, LO phonon mediated electron transport) enable new approaches for designing millimeter-wave transistors for power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, and signal switching and routing. The integration of ferroelectrics with III-N transistors also provides opportunities for increased functional density and improved performance in signal switching and routing applications. In this talk, recent advances in these areas will be presented.

Talk Title: Modeling, simulation and applications of engineered TFETs

Abstract: The tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) has drawn considerable attentions for future generation low-power VLSI/ULSI applications due to its extremely low sub-threshold current and good switching characteristics. The TFET possesses low sub-threshold swing below the Boltzmann limit of 60 mV/decade of the bulk MOSFETs. However, the major drawback of the TFET is its very poor ON current. Several techniques have been introduced to improve the performance of the TFETs through various structural modifications. The present talk will introduce the performance analysis of some engineered TFET structures via theoretical modelling and commercially available TCAD simulations. Finally, some applications of the engineered TFETs in the SRAM design and level-free bio-sensors will also be discussed.

Talk Title: On-chip ESD protection design with consideration for system level ESD and immunity test of EMC

Abstract: Characteristics of on-chip ESD protection circuitry is becoming larger factor to determine results of the system level ESD test or immunity test of EMC after mounting IC on the board. In these test cases, characteristics of on-chip ESD circuitry can show different b