Dr. James Slinkman | IBM Electronics RF/SOI Technology Development | “Scanned Probe Microscopy techniques for nano-scale characterization of RF semiconductor technologies”
Event Date:
April 2, 2015 – 3:30 PM to April 3, 2015 – 4:59 PM
Location:
Burson 115
Event Date:
April 2, 2015 – 3:30 PM to April 3, 2015 – 4:59 PM
Location:
Burson 115
Ph.D Nanoscale Science
Seminar Series
Spring 2015
Dr. James Slinkman
IBM Electronics
RF/SOI Technology Development
“Scanned Probe Microscopy techniques for nano-scale characterization of RF semiconductor technologies”
Abstract:
In the last ten years, silicon RF device chip technologies have been developed where chip performance now equals, or exceeds, that of the older, more costly technologies such GaAs “pHEMT”. Indeed, integrated silicon RF/digital technology now dominates the cell-phone market. At IBM alone, about 1/2 million of these RF chips are made per day. As this number has grown, “Silicon RF” has catalyzed the cell-phone to the status of arguably the most pervasive, personal electronic device on earth. The goal of this talk is to provide insight into “what’s in your cell phone” and one way that engineers can inspect the RF chips in it on the nano-scale. Thus there are two parts to this talk. First, I will briefly describe the basic elements of a cell-phone with special emphasis on the RF switch chip and take a quick look at how this chip is manufactured at the nano-scale. You will be able to examine these chips live. In the second part of the talk, I will describe an instrument, called a “Scanning Probe Microscope” (SPM), which is used for characterizing and debugging the nano-electronic devices, such as the switch, and how we have enhanced SPM to this end.
Bio:
James A. Slinkman obtained his Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from Dartmouth College (1986), his M.S. in Physics from the University of Virginia (1975); and his B.S. in Physics from LaSalle University (1971). He has been employed at IBM since 1978, after holding positions in the U.S. Army (1971-73), and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Atmospheric Explorer Program (1975-1977). He has served at various times as Adjunct Professor at the University of Oklahoma, Dartmouth College (Thayer Engineering School), and Norwich University. He is a member of the NSF SBIR/STTR panel on Wireless Technology. He is currently Lead RF/SOI Design Engineer at IBM Microelectronics, Essex Junction, VT. His current research interests include semiconductor device physics and scanned probe microscopy. His interests include coaching youth sports, amateur astronomy, STEM K-12 activities and demos, and biking.
Thursday, April 2, 2015 @ 3:30 PM in Burson 115
Coffee & soft drinks served at 3:15 PM