Applied advances semicon research at CITRIS

SANTA CLARA, USA: Applied Materials is advancing semiconductor research with an equipment and service donation to the University of California, Berkeley’s Nanofabrication Laboratory in the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).

CITRIS is a center of excellence for graduate students, faculty and industrial researchers to create nanotechnology solutions for many of the world’s most pressing social, environmental and health care issues.

“In order to accelerate breakthrough technologies, we believe it is important for students to work on advanced equipment and gain hands-on experience working on semiconductor devices,” said Om Nalamasu, Deputy CTO and Vice President of Advanced Technologies at Applied Materials. “We are pleased to be part of CITRIS and look forward to working together with students and faculty, and to a stronger affiliation with the University.”

Applied Materials’ gift consists of processing equipment and a service contract valued in excess of $5 million. The systems complement Applied Materials equipment that was donated to the university in 2002.

“These advanced systems will be used by our engineering students to accelerate groundbreaking research in semiconductor and related nanofabrication technology that may fuel an array of new discoveries,” said Shankar Sastry, Dean of the College of Engineering. “We thank Applied Materials for its continued support as these tools will be valuable to the University’s programs.”

CITRIS will foster work on novel semiconductor devices and their integration with nanowires/nanotubes, microelectomechanical systems (MEMS), optoelectronics, and bioelectronics. The systems donated by Applied will be used to deposit two of the most critical thin films that are part of next-generation integrated circuits: epitaxy and gate dielectrics.

In addition, as a result of Applied Materials’ investment and continued support, UC Berkeley will dedicate a collaborative laboratory within CITRIS, known as a “Collaboratory,” to Applied Materials and it will be devoted to energy research. The Collaboratory is a key feature of CITRIS, providing faculty, students and industrial researchers with spaces for project-driven collaboration.

The capability of The Collaboratory combines well with Applied Materials’ solar strategy to bring significant change to the industry by developing new technologies that enable lower cost-per-watt solutions for solar cell manufacturing, with the goal of making solar power a significant alternative source of global energy.