Dr. Julia Hsu, in addition to her team of co-principal investigators (Co-PIs), Dr. Howard Katz, Dr. Chih-Hao Chang, Dr. Kevin Brenner, and Dr. Cormac Toher have received $1,900,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) Program in support of their project on FuSe2 Topic 3: Co-designing Indium-based Sol-gel Precursors for Extreme Ultraviolet Resist and Back-end-of-the-line Oxide Nanoelectronics. This project intends to address the challenges of scaling chip design and improving transistor device performance through the design and merging of indium-based compounds and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) designing methods.

To foster technological improvement, boost nationwide competitiveness, and enhance both environmental and economic durability, this project’s efforts aim to fix restrictions in semiconductor construction by emerging reduced, more effective chip elements and high-powered, low-power transistors. By introducing a new low-temperature synthesis approach for indium-based oxide transistors, the research for this project has the ability to decrease construction costs and energy consumption, providing to the industrial impact and goals of sustainability.

This project will incorporate research, materials development, and machine learning to support objectives such as the development of EUV resists the synthesis and classification of indium oxide transistors, and the enhancement of material-device connections. These scientific initiatives are accompanied by a career training program aimed at positioning undergraduate students for professions in nanoelectronics, focusing on the immediate need for expert technical labor in the North Texas region.

Based on the project’s outcomes, this award will contribute to the fields of materials science and engineering and exhibit the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) mission to support innovative research and education.