Julia Hsu
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Materials Science
Making computer chips faster and more efficient depends on printing ever smaller features and building better transistors, the tiny switches that do the computing. This multi-university project co-designs indium-based materials that serve both needs.
- Fields
Materials Science
Engineering
Chemistry
- Topics
semiconductors
extreme ultraviolet lithography
photoresist
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Design indium-based extreme ultraviolet (EUV) resists, light-sensitive films for patterning chip features, using computational and machine learning tools that optimize both material and device properties.
- Synthesize and characterize indium sol-gel precursors, testing whether pre-complexed fuels raise indium density for sensitivity and whether lower-nitrate precursors reduce roughness and environmental impact.
- Measure the resolution, line edge roughness and sensitivity of EUV-patterned indium resist films.
- Convert EUV-patterned resists into indium oxide transistors using photonic curing, a low-temperature light-flash process, and test whether added visible-light-absorbing chromophores improve electrical performance.
More about the research
The same material is first used as a resist, a light-sensitive film that is patterned with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. It is then converted into working indium oxide transistors. Indium absorbs EUV light strongly, and indium oxide can make high-performance transistors, so one material could save processing steps, waste and cost.
Why it matters
Chip makers need materials that can print smaller features and simpler routes to building transistors on top of finished chips (back-end-of-the-line). Indium materials that serve as both EUV resist and transistor channel could improve chip performance and energy efficiency. They could also cut processing steps, cost and chemical waste. The training program aims to supply skilled technicians for the North Texas semiconductor industry.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sarah Swisher
University of Minnesota, MN·Engineering·Early-career
Create a vertical ferroelectric memcapacitor, a capacitor that stores memory states, that can be fabricated in the back end of the CMOS process for monolithic 3D chip integration.
Franklin Dollar
University of California-Irvine, CA·Physics
Use EUV light emitted during laser wakefield acceleration to infer plasma temperature and connect it, through simulations, to the electron charge injected into the plasma wave, in experiments on petawatt lasers such as ZEUS.
Jing Zhang
Rochester Institute of Technology, NY·Engineering
Advance interdisciplinary semiconductor research in four tracks spanning physics and materials science, micro- and nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and photonics, and integrated circuits and packaging, all built on CMOS chip technology.
The school
University of Texas at Dallas: 16 labs on PI Pages, $182M a year on research, 239 research doctorates a year.
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