semiconductor

Madalyn Gragg, an undergraduate in mechanical engineering and general physics, is one of three students at Oregon State University chosen to receive the 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a national award established in 1986 in memory of Sen. Barry Goldwater.

In her scholarship application essay, Gragg reflected on the challenges she faced in getting into college coming from a school designated under Title I-A as a school that serves children from families experiencing poverty.

Oregon State University stands as a beacon of innovation in semiconductor technology and advanced manufacturing. The university’s dedication to research is shaping the futures of critical industries, including chip manufacturing, biomedical applications, and environmental technologies. At the heart of these advancements are emerging techniques measuring thermal conductivity and additive manufacturing using laser sintering.

In the evolving landscape of semiconductor research, atomic layer deposition has emerged as a touchstone for innovation. A thin film deposition technique, in which chemical precursors interact with surfaces in a controlled fashion, ALD enables precise, layer-by-layer assembly of materials at the atomic scale. ALD is experiencing groundbreaking advancements at Oregon State University, where researchers are not only refining traditional ALD techniques but also working to expand applications.

Tzu-Yi Chang, a doctoral student in nuclear engineering at Oregon State who spends her summers conducting research at the Idaho National Laboratory, has been fascinated by how things function ever since she was a child.

“I started my engineering education when I was young, since my father was a technician,” Chang said. “I watched him work when I was as young as 4 or 5 years old and learned about machines.”

While it appears that we are nearing the sunset of Moore’s Law, we are still in for some incredible last acts in transistor size reduction and semiconductor manufacturing efficiency. With roots reaching back to the mid-1980s, atomic layer deposition has long been considered a potential route in semiconductor manufacturing that could allow Moore’s Law to continue unabated. The method of ALD sees the depositing of thin films of materials onto surfaces one atomic layer at a time, allowing for better control over film thickness and composition than traditional techniques.