WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The National Science Foundation (NSF) and several corporate partners are turning to Purdue University researchers to improve the performance and energy efficiency of semiconductors through new research grants announced by NSF on Sept. 16. Purdue is the only university selected by a review committee and NSF to lead research in each of three topic areas and will receive more than $5 million.
NSF announced the grants in partnership with Ericsson, Intel, Micron Technology and Samsung Electronics. Each grant was issued as part of the Future of Semiconductors (NSF FuSe2) competition to advance U.S. leadership in semiconductor research and innovation and address key challenges in the sector. The grants support the CHIPS and SCIENCE Act of 2022 goals of ensuring long-term leadership and economic growth nationwide in the microelectronics sector.
Funding for Purdue will support research to develop innovative materials and designs that lead to faster, more efficient chips used in everything from smartphones to AI systems. Semiconductor research is a key pillar of Purdue Compute, a strategic university initiative to further expand Purdue’s research and teaching excellence. In addition to leading national workforce development efforts and garnering large industry partnerships, Purdue has repeatedly demonstrated itself as a research leader in the foundations of the digital economy.
“These grants further develop and expand the important semiconductor research for which Purdue is known around the world,” said Karen Prout, executive vice chancellor for research. “Receiving grants in each of the available topic areas from NSF and leading semiconductor companies underscores Purdue’s reputation as a leader in chip research.”
The new grants will support the following Purdue projects:
Bridging the Atomic Layer and Foundational Models: A Versatile Indium Oxide-Based Neural Computing Platform. This work focuses on creating a new computing system using indium oxide, a material that is just a few atomic layers thick. The platform mimics the way the human brain processes information and could lead to smarter, faster, and more energy-efficient AI systems. The project is led by Haitong Li, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, along with Peide Ye, the Richard J. and Mary Jo Schwartz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Anand Raghunathan, Silicon Valley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. High-Resolution Imaging of Semiconductor Defects: Detection, Reliability, and Mitigation. This project uses advanced imaging techniques to find and study microscopic defects in semiconductor materials. Detecting defects at a very detailed level early in the manufacturing process can improve the quality, performance, and reliability of semiconductors. The research is led by Nikhileth Chawla, Landsburg Professor of Materials Engineering, Charles Bowman, Showalter Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hany Abdel Khaliq, Nuclear Engineering professor, and Eshan Ganj, materials engineering postdoctoral researcher. Ex-Situ Strain and Temperature Processing of Ferroelectric Oxides for BEOL Performance (STEP FOx). This research aims to improve how ferroelectric oxides are processed. By carefully controlling the temperature and stresses the material is subjected to during fabrication, the researchers hope to improve the performance of the material, allowing them to create more reliable and efficient electronic devices, especially during the critical “back-end-of-line” (BEOL) stage of manufacturing advanced computer chips. The research is led by Thomas Beachem, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
Purdue researchers are also part of a team led by Texas A&M University.
SPRINT: Scalable, High-Performance, Reliable Interconnect Technology Based on Interface Co-Design. This project aims to develop a new method to synthesize copper nanowires and design an effective encapsulation layer based on two-dimensional materials, which will overcome the current interconnect paradigm limiting technology and enable the next generation of high-performance, energy-efficient computer chips. Participants are Zhihong Chen, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Sumeet Gupta, Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“The nation’s semiconductor issues are a top priority at Purdue University,” said Mark Lundstrom, the university’s chief semiconductor officer and director of the Semiconductor Task Force. “This funding from NSF and its corporate partners demonstrates that our work is critical to the advancement of America’s semiconductor industry and all the current and future technological imperatives that depend on it.”
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution that demonstrates excellence at scale. Ranked among the top 10 public universities in the U.S. and with two universities ranked in the top four, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with unmatched quality and scale. More than 105,000 students learn at Purdue in a variety of ways and places, with nearly 50,000 learning face-to-face at the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition for 13 consecutive years. With the first integrated urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computing, the One Health initiative and more, Purdue never stops for its next big leap at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
Source: Mark Lundstrom, lundstro@purdu.edu
