Americans rely on semiconductor technology in all aspects of their lives. We have come to expect continuous performance improvement and innovation in smart phones, watches and tablets and the cloud servers they access, in medical devices for diagnostics and treatment, in daily transportation whether by aircraft, automobile, boat, or e-bike/scooter, in management of our homes through safety and security devices, smart appliances, and virtual assistants, and in world-leading technologies for the warfighter to ensure our national defense. To continue historic US leadership in semiconductors, there is an urgent need to provide relevant training to STEM undergraduates. This three-year REU Site: Michigan Semiconductor Hands-On Research Experience (M-SHORE) will support nine students each summer to participate in research projects that leverage the University of Michigan’s Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF). For 10 weeks, the participants will work with U-M faculty to address pressing scientific questions by performing experiments in the LNF. The program focuses on engaging with students who have no prior nanofabrication experience or limited capabilities at their undergraduate institutions. The M-SHORE REU Site will provide these students with professional development training through customized seminars, workshops, weekly meetings and a final symposium at which each REU student gives a brief oral talk and presents a poster on their research results. In addition to contributing to the training of a U.S. semiconductor workforce, their research will have a transformative impact on our understanding of critical semiconductor and related technologies.
The M-SHORE (Michigan Semiconductor Hands-On Research Experience) REU site offers hands-on research experiences in semiconductor-related materials and devices at the University of Michigan (UM) for outstanding cohorts of undergraduates, particularly those without prior nanofabrication experience or from institutions with limited nanofabrication capabilities. Each year, nine REU projects, led by UM faculty and guided by graduate students or post-doctoral fellow mentors, will focus on impactful research enabled by the UM’s cleanroom, the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF). The goals of this REU site are to provide opportunities for participants from around the country to engage in semiconductor-related research at an experiential level not previously available to them, to increase the participant’s confidence (self-efficacy) in lab work and research skills, to strengthen their identity as a scientist or engineer, and to facilitate their path to pursue graduate studies. The research projects performed by the REU Site participants will address key research challenges in semiconductor materials and devices, focusing on two thrusts: (1) quantum and photonic science and (2) high-voltage or high-temperature devices. In the first thrust, the REU projects will investigate new materials, fabrication, and device architectures for key future components of quantum information systems including quantum integrated photonic chips, high quality-factor RF/optical transducers, and integrated photonic sensors. In the second thrust, the projects will advance our understanding of transistors and memories designed for high-temperature operation and on wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors needed for future multi-kiloVolt power electronics.
This award reflects NSF’s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.