2023-10-02

Zhongyunshen Zhu defends his thesis Friday, October 13th in lecture hall E:1406, 09:15.
Link to thesis.
Zoom link. Zoom ID: 64195800022.

Describe your research in a popular science way

Transistors are the building blocks for the advanced chips in your computers and smartphones. My research mainly focuses on developing new transistor technologies based on vertical nanowires to increase the energy efficiency and functionality in the circuit system.

What made you want to pursue a PhD?

I was quite interested in semiconductor materials and electronic devices and would like to dive deeper into this research area. This mainly motivated me to pursue a PhD in this field.

What is the most fascinating or interesting with your thesis subject?

The integration of a ferroelectric gate on the 3D nanowire transistor. This leads to a new reconfigurable device with much smaller area and power consumption as well as more functions, which could be cutting edge transistors in AI technology.

Do you believe some results from your research will be applied in practice eventually? And if so, how / how?

I do believe some results from our research could be useful in practice. The fabricated transistors can work with lower power and smaller area, in line with the goal in industry and the sustainability criteria from an environmental perspective. Also, our transistors can integrate with emerging materials such as ferroelectrics, leading to reconfigurable and in-memory computing devices in a 3D nanowire geometry. This could be another interest to be applied in practice. 

What are your plans?

I will continue the research on similar topics in the group.