Electroless ternary nickel alloys for under bump metallization (UBM) on power semiconductors for high temperature process conditions or applications

Walter, Andreas
Electroless Team Manager
Atotech Deutschland GmbH

Abstract
The presentation will show benefits and feasibility results for electroless plating of different ternary nickel alloys in comparison to the standard electroless phosphorous-containing nickel for packaging in growing power electronics or automotive industry. Standard electroless phosphorous-containing nickel for ENEP* or ENEPIG** under bump metallization has the disadvantage that at temperatures above 350°C a phase transition occurs which leads to a layer stress change and may cause cracks in the under bump layer. Ternary nickel alloys reveal no phase transitions up to 600°C, and are an excellent alternative to the standard electroless medium or high phosphorous-containing nickel for high temperature processing post nickel deposition, and high temperature soldering or applications. The paper will showcase results of the advanced properties of three different electroless ternary nickel alloys in comparison to a standard medium phosphor and a low phosphor nickel, with regards to thermal behavior, stress shift, and facture toughness. *electroless nickel, electroless palladium ** electroless nickel, electroless palladium, immersion gold

Biography
Andreas Walter has more than 18 years experience in the semiconductor industry and is currently working as head of application for electroless plating processes for Semiconductor Advanced Packaging at Atotech. Prior to joining Atotech in 2009, he worked for 3 years as an Senior Engineer at Qimonda for process integration of new memory systems, and for 7 years as a Development Engineer at Infineon, where he was responsible for material development and process integration in 300 and 200mm fab for D-RAM and resistive memories. Andreas received his Diploma and PhD in chemistry at the Martin Luther University in Halle, where he started as a scientist for synthesis of OLED dyes and organic semiconductors.

Atomic layer deposition for the synthesis and integration of 2D materials for nanoelectronics

Bol, Ageeth A.
Associate Professor
Eindhoven University of Technology

Abstract
Graphene and other layered 2D materials have been the focus of intense research in the last decade due to their unique physical and chemical properties. This presentation will highlight our recent progress on the synthesis and integration of 2D materials for nanoelectronics applications using atomic layer deposition (ALD). ALD is a chemical process that is based on self-limiting surface reactions and results in ultrathin films, with sub-nm control over the thickness and wafer-scale uniformity. Two of the critical issues in unlocking the potential of graphene are the ability to deposit ultra-thin high-K dielectrics on grapene and fabricate low resistance contacts to graphene. Technologically, it is desirable to use atomic layer deposition (ALD) for this purpose. The inert nature of graphene however has made ALD on graphene very challenging. This presentation will give an overview of ALD techniques that were developed in our lab to initiate oxide and metal ALD on graphene to form ultrathin dielectrics and low-resistance contacts, without deteriorating graphene’s electrical properties. In addition, ALD might prove as a key enabler for tackling the current challenge of large-area growth of 2-D materials with wafer level uniformity and digital thickness controllability. We have implemented plasma-enhanced ALD to synthesize large-area MoS2 thin films with tuneable morphologies i.e. in-plane and vertically standing nano-scale architectures on CMOS compatible SiO2/Si substrates. The large scale 2D in-plane morphology has potential applications in nanoelectronics, while the 3D nanofin structures could be ideal for catalysis applications such as water splitting.

Biography
Ageeth Bol is associate professor of Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. She received her MSc and PhD in Chemistry from Utrecht University, the Netherlands. After obtaining her PhD degree in 2001 she worked for Philips Electronics and at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in the USA. In 2011 she joined the faculty of Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2012 she received a prestigious VIDI grant from the NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) and in 2015 she was awarded a Consolidator Grant by the ERC (European Research Council). Her current research interests include the fabrication, modification and integration of 1-D and 2-D nanomaterials for nanodevice applications and catalysis.

GaN - the future for rectifiers.

Schmidt, Odd Roar
Project director r&d
Eltek A/S

Abstract
New devices based power converters and systems Keywords—Wide band Gap semiconductor used in rectifier with focus on GAN transisitor When dealing with power conversion in a data center, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness is key! Due to the size and capacity of a modern data center, even small efficiency improvements in the power conversion from the incoming AC to the server load have great impact in terms of cost saving. Over time, Eltek has been exploring wide band gap technology, using GaN transistors instead SiMoS Fets in order to achieve higher efficiency and reliability. Together with Infineon, Eltek have for more than 2 years participated in an EU research program which now has resulted in a new 3kW/48Vdc rectifier with a peak efficiency of 97,8%. The combination of Eltek’s proven High Efficiency (HE) technology and Infineon’s GaN transistors has enabled a truly cost effective rectifier in the Super High Efficiency range. With modern silicon devices it is feasible to raise efficiency in the 230Vac-48Vdc conversion step to 98%, but based on the experience from our extensive research we are convinced that this efficiency can better be achieved by utilizing the GaN technology; simpler, more reliable and more cost effective. In our Super High Efficiency rectifier, we have been using totem pole topology with a lot of different technical issue. The PFC has a peak efficiency of approx. 99% and the rectifier has peak efficiency of 97.8% Totem pole PFC This paper will describe how and why GaN is the key to achieve reliable 98%+ efficiency.

Biography
Odd Roar Schmidt(m): R&D Project Director with Eltek. MSc in power electronics from NTNU. He has an extensive experience, 37 years,from industrial R&D and industrialisation of power converters. Formerly, director for Telecom division in Power-One where he was responsible for System, Controller and Rectifier/Converter technology and products. He has also been technical director for Power-One and Eltek.

Predictive Probing: A novel approach to minimize efforts at final test

Schellenberger, Martin
Group Manager Equipment and APC
Fraunhofer IISB

Abstract
Quality control plays a crucial role in the manufacturing of premium products. Measures for quality control are implemented, on the one hand, right after crucial process steps to ensure single process quality. On the other hand, the application of sophisticated test procedures during final test guarantees high quality of the final product. For instance, in LED manufacturing, high effort is spent to probe every single LED chip: in dedicated probing equipment, ultra-thin needles are used to contact an LED and measure its brightness, color and electrical properties. With thousands of LED chips to be tested per wafer, this is a time-consuming and expensive step. Predictive probing aims at significantly reducing the probing time and effort in final test and follows two objectives: (1) Identify a limited set of chips that have to be tested. (2) Reconstruct the parameters also from those chips that were not probed; this includes the detection of defect chips. To achieve these objectives, up-stream metrology data is utilized. A set of machine learning algorithms (including a neural network) takes these data to identify critical chips and to predict probing results. This concept was developed and demonstrated in a 3-years R&D project together with an LED manufacturer. As a result it is possible now, to omit the measurement of 93% LED chips on a wafer, which leads to a drastic decrease in overall measurement time and cost, and still predict the brightness, color and electrical parameters of all LEDs – with an accuracy that fulfils the specification of the manufacturing partner. The principles of the approach and the knowhow gained during the development can be transferred and applied to other applications and industries, where predictive probing can significantly lower cost and efforts in quality control.

Biography
Martin Schellenberger received the diploma in electrical engineering in 1998 and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 2011, both from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. From 1998 to 2006, he was a Research Assistant with the Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Systems and Device Technology (IISB). Since 2007, he is Group Manager at Fraunhofer IISB, responsible for equipment and advanced process control. His research interests include equipment development and optimization for semiconductor processes, manufacturing science solutions for quality control, predictive methods for process control, equipment automation and productivity enhancement.

Photonics for Next Generation Computing

Tekin, Tolga
Group Manager
Fraunhofer IZM

Abstract
Main bottleneck to the realization of next generation computing systems for all big-, secure-data applications and related industries, including System-in-Package and System-on-Chip based solutions, is the lack of off-chip (off-core) interconnects with low latency, low power, high bandwidth, and high density. The solution to overcome these challenges is the use of photonics. Photonics as an underlying technology is addressing the following main technological challenges of the next generation computing systems such as i) Off-chip interconnects, ii) Massive switching matrix, iii) Disruptive system architectures, iv) Cooling concepts, v) New peripheral component interconnect express, vi) Memory fabric, vii) Novel computing functions in order to enable Quantum- & Neuromorphic Computing, AI. Next Generation Photonics Platform will enable the disruptive computing technology and photonics enabled architectures, leading to faster, cheaper, power efficient, secure, denser solutions for applications and industries. Further, generic co-integration with all building-blocks of computing technology will be possible, since photonic based standard interfaces between building blocks are introduced and implemented.

Biography
Tolga Tekin received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. He was a Research Scientist with the Optical Signal Processing Department, Fraunhofer HHI, where he was engaged in advanced research on optical signal processing, 3R-regeneration, all-optical switching, clock recovery, and integrated optics. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher on components for O-CDMA and terabit routers with the University of California. He worked at Teles AG on phased-array antennas and their components for skyDSL. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) and at Technical University of Berlin, he then led projects on optical interconnects and silicon photonics packaging. He is engaged in photonic integrated system-in-package, photonic interconnects, and 3-D heterogeneous integration research activities. He is group manager of ‘Photonics and Plasmonics Systems’ and coordinator of ‘PhoxLab - Independent Platform for Photonics in Data Centers (PIH)‘ at Fraunhofer IZM . He is coordinator of European flagship project ‘PhoxTroT’ and European H2020 project ‘L3MATRIX’ on optical interconnects for data centers.

Towards wafer-scale Qubits

Mongillo, Massimo
Device Engineer
IMEC

Abstract
In this talk I will present the recent progress made by IMEC in the fabrication and integration of basic quantum circuits targeting qubits into a 300mm FAB. Quantum Computing holds promise for solving complex computational problems which are intractable by classical calculators. The basic ingredient for the implementation of a quantum computer is the availability of a two-level system mimicking the classical bit “0” and “1”(the qubit), on which we can encode the basic information. The exceptional computation power of a Quantum Computer originates by the quantum-mechanical property of superposition, according to which the qubit state is defined as an arbitrary linear combination of the two constituent bit states. At the qubit level, two main solid-state implementations are currently explored at IMEC. They are based on individual spins in Silicon and Superconducting circuits. Spins in silicon have demonstrated the longest coherence time in any solid-state device as a result of the lack of hyperfine interaction coupling the spins of the nuclei and the electronic spins. Another approach makes use of Superconducting devices, which, to date, represent the most advanced solid-state implementation of a qubit. Although this technology has proven to be mature for the implementation of basic Quantum Algorithms, it presents unique challenges in term of integration of a large (millions) array of qubits, necessary for error-correction. Given the rather large foot-print of an elemental Superconducting qubit, this platform need to demonstrate its viability in terms of up-scalability. In the long term, both qubits platform need to be integrated into a larger system comprising the control electronics routing the necessary signals to the physical qubit layer. In IMEC we are pursuing these research lines leveraging the extended know-how in terms of large-scale integration and system architecture.

Biography
Massimo Mongillo holds a Master degree in Physics from University of Naples in 2005 and a PhD in Nanophysics from University Joseph Fourier in Grenoble in 2010. His research has focused on the physics of Silicon nanoscaled devices, Quantum Transport and Superconductivity. In 2015 he has joined IMEC to develop devices based on two-dimentional materials. Since 2017 he is in the Quantum Computing group for the integration of Superconducitng and spin Qubits.

Capraro, Bernie
Research Manager, Silicon Technology
Intel Research and Development Ireland Ltd

Biography
Bernie received a Masters Degree in Engineering (MEng) from Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic (now University of Northumberland) and has been working at Intel for the past 21 years holding various Engineering and Management roles across the wafer fabrication facilities. Bernie is currently responsible for all silicon nanotechnology research involving Intel Ireland, helping to deliver potential solutions to Intel for materials, devices, equipment and processing techniques required for the future technology nodes in collaboration with Research Centres, Academia and Industry across Ireland and Europe. Bernie’s semiconductor career spans 31 years, with other Process and Equipment Engineering positions held at Telefunken GmbH (Ge), Nortel/Bell Northern Research (UK/Canada), Applied Materials (UK) and Newport Wafer Fab (UK). In addition, Bernie is instrumental is developing Intel Ireland's relationships with third level Education Institutions, working on Policy, Talent pipeline and Research initiatives.

Design of a 10kW Three Phase PFC with Silicon Carbide

Paglia, Massimo
Application Engineer
ON Semiconductor gmbh

Abstract
A typical On Board battery Charger application for electric vehicles consists of a power factor correction stage (PFC) and a DCDC converter stage, both require the highest efficiency possible in order to deliver as much power as possible to the battery pack. Focus of this work is the 3 phase 10 kW PFC based on Silicon Carbide Mosfet which regulates the output voltage to 700V starting from a nominal input voltage of 230Vrms at 50Hz. Three parameters measure the performances of the system: total harmonic distortion, power factor and efficiency. Ideally they should be zero, one and 100% respectively. The configuration selected is typically known as inverter, made by 3 half bridges with each central point connected to a dedicated boost inductor, and each high side drain and low side source connected to the bus capacitor. 1200V SiC MOS 80m devices were used together with the recently released ON Semiconductor dedicated SiC gate driver, NCV51705. A digital control has been adopted by means of a mid-range microcontroller. The implemented strategy is based on a field oriented control approach where the rotating DQ domain has been selected aligning the D axes with the input voltage space vector. The selected HW together with the digital implementation represents a bidirectional system, therefore power can flow either ways by modification of the D axis reference current sign. The control strategy works on an interrupt running at 20 kHz using one ADC, 12 bits 1Mbs and one sample and hold. PWM frequency set to 70kHz. Experimental results demonstrate that the PFC was able to achieve as high as 98.7% at 6.6kW with a consistent efficiency above 98% at higher power output. THD was well below 5% from 3kW onwards and PF is above 0.99 from 4kW. All evaluated at nominal input voltage, 230Vrms.

Biography
Massimo Paglia received his B.Sc and M.Sc degree in Electrical Engineering from University of L'Aquila in 2004 and 2008 respectively. From 2009 to 2014 he was with the R&D team at Whirlpool Europe where he worked on the development of 3 phase motor control algorithms. In 2014 he joined ON Semiconductor as part of the Solution Engineering Center supporting the European Sales & Marketing group. His actual assignment is development of smart algorithms for three phase systems in power applications.

Advancing Atomic Layer Deposition and Atomic Layer Etching

Knoops, Harm
Atomic Scale Segment Specialist
Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology

Abstract
Atomic scale processes such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and atomic layer etching (ALE) are increasing in popularity with more and more applications requiring or benefitting from atomic level control. ALD and ALE provide the control they do because they are based on self-limiting surface processes. This contribution will discuss the basics for both techniques and discuss how they can be further advanced. For ALD two trends will be discussed: i) controlling the ion energy in plasma ALD to tune material properties. Generally processes are optimized to have minimal ion energies to avoid potential damage. Interestingly, for these low damage plasma sources, the ion energy can be increased by substrate biasing providing additional knobs for tuning film properties. Key examples are stress-control of oxides such as achieving near-zero stress in TiO₂ and reduction of the resistivity of conductive nitrides (e.g. for TiN, HfN_x, and NbN). ii) Usage of novel plasma gases. For instance H₂S plasma gas mixtures have been shown to allow growth of 2D-MoS₂ at low temperatures and SF₆ plasma was found to allow ALD of AlF₃, which could be of interest as an optical coating or for batteries. For ALE the basics will be discussed and how these can be used for applications. More and more processes are being developed (e.g. ALE of GaN, AlGaN, Si, SiO₂ & 2D materials). Interestingly besides the exact control of etch depth, other aspects of ALE might turn out to be more important for certain applications. For instance ALE of AlGaN was found to reduce the surface roughness, while generally plasma etching would increase the surface roughness somewhat. Other advances for both ALD and ALE are expected to be in the form of combinations with other techniques. Therefore clustering of ALD and ALE tools with 2D materials growth can allow precise control of interfaces and allow avenues into selective growth, surface cleaning and etching.

Biography
Dr.ir. Harm Knoops is an Atomic Scale Segment Specialist for Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT) and holds a part-time assistant professorship position at the Eindhoven University of Technology. His work covers the fields of (plasma-based) synthesis of thin films, advanced diagnostics and understanding and developing plasma ALD and similar techniques. His main goals are to improve and advance ALD processes and applications for Oxford Instruments and its customers. He has authored and co-authored more than 40 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Establishing smart plasma process control in production lines

Schütte, Thomas
President / CEO
PLASUS GmbH

Abstract
While metrology tools are getting more advanced and providing plenty of valuable data of process and product, there is still a lack in evaluating and combining these information for an integral process analysis and real-time control. In plasma processing optical emission spectroscopy is well known and often established as a process monitor by observing a single emission line e.g. to detect an endpoint or to survey the process stability. However, using the spectroscopic plasma monitoring technique all acquired spectroscopic data is evaluated simultaneously and in real-time and thus, provides a more comprehensive insight in the plasma chemistry, the composition of the plasma and its temporal evolution. Combing the spectroscopic plasma monitoring data with other real-time plasma metrology data will complete the picture of the plasma process. In order to scope with the more complex and advanced processes for next generation products it is essential to interconnect the metrology tools and its data and data analysis as it is addressed by IoT or Industry 4.0. In an example from solar cell production the benefits of the advanced spectroscopic plasma monitoring technique are illustrated and the advantages of combining metrology tools are outlined.

Biography
Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schütte studied Electrical Engineering at the Technical University Munich and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and received his Diploma and MSEE, respectively. During his PhD at the University Stuttgart he specialized in plasma physics and plasma spectroscopy and in 1996 he established the company PLASUS where he acts as CEO and technical director of PLASUS GmbH now. He was and still is dedicated to develop and realize plasma monitor and process control systems for production lines for all types of plasma applications.

MEMS – One Product one process?

Gómez, Udo
Senior Vice President
Robert Bosch GmbH

Abstract
The demand and variety of applications for MEMS sensors has been growing steadily since the first series applications in the automotive sector in the early 1990s. Especially since the rise of fast-moving consumer markets, quick and efficient design has become increasingly important. However, in particular for MEMS, the strong interaction of product design and manufacturing processes is a major challenge. The growing number of applications for sensing of various physical and increasingly chemical parameters, often require specific solutions in MEMS production, chip level packaging and component testing as well. Fast and market-driven product development is only possible through innovative design concepts and the provision of modular process building blocks. A deep understanding of the interrelationships and the development of corresponding simulation tools are further key competencies. As market leader in MEMS sensor business and one of the first MEMS pioneers, BOSCH is continuously pushing forward the development of MEMS technology. The extension of our process platform originally defined for automotive applications to consumer products opens up new possibilities in the realization of complex 3D structures. This enables new product designs that are reflected in high-performance sensors for both automotive and consumer electronics applications. The presentation gives a short overview of the different requirements on MEMS technology compared to standard IC design and manufacturing. It provides insights into the future development in the field of surface micromechanics and highlights challenges and solutions of MEMS technology development and manufacturing as well as design methodology. In addition, we give examples of new design and product concepts and finally question: Does the old MEMS law "one product, one process" continue to apply?

Biography
Dr. Udo-Martin Gómez Senior Vice President Sensor Engineering, Robert Bosch GmbH Dr. Gómez is Senior Vice President of Robert Bosch GmbH. He is heading the Sensor Engineering at Bosch Automotive Electronics (AE/NE-SE) in Reutlingen, Germany, the world’s largest MEMS supplier serving the Automotive, Consumer Electronics and IoT industry. Having completed his doctorate in physics, Dr. Gómez started his career at Robert Bosch GmbH in 1999 at Corporate Sector Research and Advanced Engineering (MEMS technology). Before joining Bosch Automotive Electronics in April 2018, he worked in various management positions at Bosch and also held the position of Chief Expert for MEMS sensor technology. From 2013 to March 2018, he was Chief Technical Officer of Bosch Sensortec GmbH - a fully-owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH, responsible for research and development of micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS) for consumer electronics, smartphones, security systems, industrial technology and logistics. Since 2014, Dr. Gómez is Deputy Chairman of the Board of VDE/VDI-Society Microelectronics, Microsystems and Precision Engineering (GMM). Since 2015, he is also member of the GSA (Global Semiconductor Alliance) EMEA Leadership Council.

Innovative Compound Semiconductor Based Engineered Substrates for Photonics, Power, Solar and RF Applications

Guiot, Eric
Product Development Manager
Soitec

Abstract
The Smart Cut ™ technology applied to the fabrication of SOI, is used in volume manufacturing by SOITEC, serving digital, RF, power and photonics markets. Application of this technology using ion implantation to transfer thin films of compounds semiconductors has also been developed. The Smart Cut ™ process has technical and economical advantages. Transfer of thin layers onto many various materials with both a good thickness homogeneity and a high crystalline quality has been demonstrated. From an economic point of view, the possibility of reusing the remainder of the implanted substrate helps to reduce costs, especially for the III-V materials. We will focus on the application of the Smart Cut ™ technology for two different materials, InP and GaN. InP is widely used for the optoelectronic market. The Smart Cut ™ technology, has been tuned to this material. In addition to the cost advantage of the recycling, different receiver substrates such as GaAs, Sapphire or Si have been evaluated to enable new functions: receiver lift off, lower fragility, better integration. Using the InP-on-GaAs engineered substrate combined with direct wafer bonding, Soitec together with Fraunhofer ISE and CEA Leti have demonstrated wafer bonded 4-junction solar cells with highest conversion efficiency of 46.1 %. We will discuss also how the Smart Cut™ technology can enable the use of InP for RF 5G products. Regarding GaN, Smart Cut ™ technology enables the layer transfer of up to 1 µm thick GaN films either from bulk GaN or GaN on sapphire. We have demonstrated up to 3 cycles of reuse of the GaN donor substrate. Different receiver substrates such as Sapphire, Molybdenum and polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride have been evaluated. Through this innovative engineered GaN substrate, we have demonstrated a 20µm GaN epi growth. This breakthrough could enable new vertical GaN devices for high power application such as electric vehicle powertrain and RF power products serving the 5G market.

Biography
Dr. Eric Guiot, Materials Science Doctor (Ph.D. from Paris University, Pierre et Marie Curie), now is product development manager for compound semiconductors in Soitec. He is graduated from the Ecole Centrale engineering school in France. He made his PhD on the development of epitaxy of iron oxide targeting giant magnetoresistance materials. He then joined Corning Fontainebleau Research Center in France for the development of integrated optics devices for telecommunication. In 2002 he joined Soitec in France. He has been working on the development of advanced engineered substrates targeting various applications covering digital application at advanced nodes and optoelectronics. He is now leading the product development group focused on compound semiconductor engineered substrates targeting power, solar, photonics and RF application.

Advanced imaging of novel low-dimensional nanostructures

Nicolosi, Valeria
Professor of Nanomaterials and Advanced Microscopy
Trinity College Dublin

Abstract
Low-dimensional nanostructured materials such as organic and inorganic nanotubes, nanowires and platelets are potentially useful in a number of areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology due to their remarkable mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. However, difficulties associated with their lack of processability have seriously hampered both. In the last few years dispersion and exfoliation methods have been developed and demonstrated to apply universally to 1D and 2D nanostructures of very diverse nature, offering a practical means of processing the nanostructures for a wide range of innovative technologies. To make real applications truly feasible, however, it is crucial to fully characterize the nanostructures on the atomic scale and correlate this information with their physical and chemical properties. Advances in aberration-corrected optics in electron microscopy have revolutionised the way to characterise nano-materials, opening new frontiers for materials science. With the recent advances in nanostructure processability, electron microscopes are now revealing the structure of the individual components of nanomaterials, atom by atom. Here we will present an overview of very different low-dimensional materials issues, showing what aberration-corrected electron microscopy can do for materials scientists.

Biography
Prof. Nicolosi received a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Catania (Italy) in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Physics in 2006 from Trinity College Dublin. In 2008 she moved to the University of Oxford as a lecturer and in 2012 she returned to Trinity College Dublin as Research Professor. Today she is the Chair of Nanomaterials and Advanced Microscopy in Trinity College Dublin, and a PI in the SFI Centres AMBER and I-Form. She is the first woman to have reached the position of Chair in the School of Chemistry since the foundation of Trinity College Dublin in 1592. She has published more than 200 high-impact-papers, including Science, Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials amongst the others, and delivered more than 100 invited and plenary presentations at major conferences/institutions/public events. Over the years she has won numerous awards: the RDS/Intel Prize for Nanoscience 2012, the World Economic Forum Young Scientist 2013, EU Woman in Technology Award 2013, SFI President of Ireland Young Researcher Award 2014, SFI Irish Early Stage Researcher 2016, TCD ERC Awardee 2017, Women Business Forum Women of the Decade in Science & Innovation 2018. Prof. Nicolosi is the only 5 times ERC awardee in Europe: she received a €1.5m Starting Grant in 2011, followed by 3 Proof-of-Concept top-up grants to bring results of frontier research closer to the market, and a €2.5m Consolidator Grant in 2016. This brings her total research funding awarded in the past 5 years to over €15 million. Her research has found direct commercial impact, being licenced to companies like Samsung Korea, Nokia, LEGO and Ferrari Formula 1. In several occasions she has accompanied the President of the European Research Council, Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, to high level meetings at the European Parliament and with the government of Ireland, where she further demonstrated her pioneering work and her commitment to the future of research. The European Parliament Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovadion, Carlos MOEDAS, chose her to accompany him at a press conference called to celebrate the ERC 10th anniversary at the headquarters of the European Commission in March 2017. On the 9th of November 2017 she gave a keynote speech at the Falling Walls Conference in Berlin. This remarkably prestigious conference celebrates this historic event focusing on the future walls to fall in science and society. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the German Federal President and distinguished international government representatives have keynoted the past conferences. “The brightest minds on the planet” meet at the Falling Walls Conference, BBC London stated and according to the New York Times it is „the most exceptional science conference in the world“.

One-Shot, nm-precise metrology for in-line applications

Taudt, Christopher
researcher/PhD student
Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau

Abstract
The manufacturing of power chip technologies, semiconductors and thin-film structures demand quality, precision and reliability regarding the manufacturing processes. Therefore, appropriate in-line ready, integrated and fast characterization methods are required. One of the key requirements for such a system is the ability to gather e.g. precise topography data without the need of mechanically moving parts in order to ensure a fast data acquisition and minimal uncertainties. Within this work an alternative approach based on a white-light interferometer is presented which is designed to comply with these requirements. The interferometer is equipped with a supercontinuum white-light source and defined dispersion over the given spectral range. Due to the known dispersion characteristics, it becomes possible to calculate the surface profile with nm-precision from the phase-varied spectral data. In a two-dimensional approach the surface profile is encoded in one dimension as spectral modulations (z-coordinate) while the second dimension holds information about the spatial distribution of the profile (y-coordinate). The talk explains the data analysis model, calculations of theoretical resolution as well as the experimental setup and its results. Experimental results are presented from samples such as a precision height standard, Si-wafers, MEMS pressure sensors and spin-coated polymer layers. It could be shown that the resolution in the z-coordinate during the experiments was in the order of 2 nm while the resolution in the y-coordinate was in the range of 5 µm. The results of the interferometric measurements where furthermore evaluated with other techniques such as a confocal scanning microscope. Additionally experiments under varying temperature conditions proved a high stability with only 0.15 nm/K drifts. The interferometric method has advantages in fast, in-line metrology applications as it has shown high accuracy and robustness during different experiments.

Biography
My name is Christopher Taudt. I`ve received a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland as well as a diploma degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Germany. Furthermore, I successfully completed a research period in the USA (University of Pittsburgh) and did freelance work in programming for the automotive industry. Currently I’m a PhD student at the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau and the Technical University Dresden, Germany. Additionally, I`m a team manager at the Fraunhofer Application Center for Optical Metrology and Surface Technologies in Zwickau, Germany. My main working area is optical metrology, especially low-coherence interferometry. In this research area I’m mainly interested in the characterization of materials such as semiconductors and polymers during the different processing steps. This can include topographic, optical and other properties of the aforementioned materials. One of the most important aspects in my research is the strong cooperation with industrials partners in national and international projects.