News: Microelectronics
7 October 2024
Penn State and UCSB team gain three-year, $2m NSF Future of Semiconductors grant
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year, $2m Future of Semiconductors (FuSe2) grant to researchers at Penn State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to develop wireless communications and sensing platforms through advanced chips and packaging.
The team includes Penn State associate professor of electrical engineering Wooram Lee; Penn State professor Madhavan Swaminathan, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and director of the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES); and UCSB professor of electrical and computer engineering Mark Rodwell.
The Penn State-UCSB team aims to focus on 6G technology — the ultra-high-frequency, high-speed successor to 5G networks, which is still in the early stages of R&D. “The key to achieving this is through a process that resembles an assembly line, with individual parts, each with their own functions, combined into a single advanced package,” Swaminathan says. Such heterogeneous integration enables the production of enhanced, high-functioning compact electronic devices that overcome limitations to performance, functionality, size and thermal management, he adds.
For this project, Lee will focus on high-speed silicon-based integrated circuit design, Swaminathan on advanced glass packaging and Rodwell on indium phosphide (InP) amplifier design, which is needed to generate sufficient power at such high frequencies. Together, the researchers will work to integrate the three technologies into a single device.
The team also plans to educate doctoral-level scientists and engineers in various areas of semiconductor design and packaging as well as provide short courses on specialized training in semiconductor manufacturing to students and industry professionals. The overarching goal is to infuse the US semiconductor industry with experts, educators and skilled technicians.
The NSF’s FuSe2 program is a national initiative granting about 20 awards up to $2m each in 2024. This program is aligned with the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a federal statute investing $52.7bn in funding to the development of the US semiconductor industry.
