FuSe-TG: Co-design based Wide bandgap Semiconductor Research Center

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this proposal is to build an interdisciplinary team that will identify the most important co-design challenges and opportunities for wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors in microelectronic systems, explore convergent co-design techniques across materials, devices, circuits and integration technologies to address different verticals relevant to future semiconductor technology, and attract and train a diverse workforce with skills relevant to the semiconductor industry. Wide bandgap semiconductors enable new limits for high performance in terms of power, voltage, efficiency, and frequency, and could greatly expand the performance and functionality beyond Si microelectronics. The workforce training plans outlined in the previous section will enable students from diverse backgrounds to get training relevant to semiconductor. The positive impact on semiconductor industry from both workforce training and research will have positive economic outcomes both regionally and nationally. Wide bandgap semiconductors can create technologies that have real societal impact, such an energy-efficient computing, high-bandwidth communications, and future space and nuclear technologies. The research proposed here will help to accelerate and enable many of these outcomes. The development of a skilled workforce versed in the organizational and technical aspects of co-design from associate to doctoral-level is critical for advancing semiconductor technologies and needs to train the future workforce and upskill / reskill the existing workforce. The proposed work will expand three interdisciplinary, experiential semiconductor workforce experiences for students, including 1) Graduate Research Associateships (GRA), 2) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), and 3) Manufacturing Internship Opportunities (MIO). The proposed work will enable the formation of a center to enable co-design based research across four verticals – analog/mixed-signal/RF, power, extreme-environment, and photonics, and three cross-cutting enabling capabilities: materials/processing, circuit design, and heterogeneous integration, and workforce training in engagement with a diverse base of state, educational, and industry partners. The center envisioned here will be a broad university-industry partnership to focus on co-design techniques to enable vertically integrated materials/device/circuit engineering. This will enable higher complexity/functionality WBG systems, and help to accelerate the integration of WBG with Si microelectronics. The proposed work will be done in three well-defined phases, starting with a series of industry discussions/interviews, and challenge/ideation workshops in Phase 1, smaller task forces focused on individual exploratory research in Phase 2, and vertical-focused workshops in Phase 3. The final goal will be to create a template to establish the a broad interdisciplinary center for wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, circuits, and systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.