Research Fellow (Carbon Nanotube CMOS Process Development and Device Integration)

Interested applicants are invited to apply directly at the NUS Career Portal. Please note your application will only be processed if you apply via NUS Career Portal.

NUS Career Portal link - https://careers.nus.edu.sg/job/Research-Fellow-%28Carbon-Nanotube-CMOS-Process-Development-and-Device-Integration%29/34219-en_GB/

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Job Description

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), College of Design and Engineering, is seeking a Research Fellow to lead the process development and device fabrication track of a research programme on wafer-scale carbon nanotube CMOS. The work runs on two tracks: process modules are developed and optimised on coupon-scale samples at NUS, then transferred as a documented process-of-record to an industry partner for verification on a 200 mm line.
Key responsibilities:
• Develop and optimise the core CNFET process modules — ALD high-k gate stacks, source/drain contact metallisation, channel cleaning and passivation, and threshold-voltage control — within a BEOL-compatible (≤ 400 °C) thermal budget.
• Build a silicon-fab-compatible contact integration scheme using only unit processes a production line already runs, and scale the device geometry to aggressive contacted gate pitch by electron-beam or DUV lithography.
• Qualify incoming carbon nanotube array film as a device-grade channel material (density, alignment, uniformity, purity, residues) by SEM, AFM, Raman and optical mapping, and define acceptance criteria.
• Characterise devices electrically and statistically — transfer and output characteristics, contact resistance, subthreshold swing, hysteresis, threshold distributions and basic reliability screening.
• Author the process-of-record (flow sheet, recipes, metrology plan, in-line control limits) and support its lab-to-fab transfer to the partner line, including joint failure analysis and corrective process splits.
• Develop an CNFET module for complementary operation, and fabricate CNFET integrated circuits in collaboration with the circuit design team.
• Publish in leading venues, supervise graduate students in the cleanroom, and contribute to invention disclosures and research proposals.

Qualifications

Essential:
• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering or a closely related field (awarded, or thesis submitted, at the time of application).
• Substantial hands-on cleanroom experience covering a credible fraction of: atomic layer deposition, electron-beam and/or stepper lithography, reactive ion etching, physical vapour deposition and evaporation, and wet processing.
• Demonstrated ability to take a device from mask design through fabrication to working electrical data — the whole flow, not a single module.
• Electrical characterisation of nanoscale transistors (semiconductor parameter analyser, probe station), with the statistical discipline to separate a real process effect from a lucky device.
• A publication record commensurate with career stage, strong written and spoken English, and the ability to work independently and to guide junior researchers.
Desirable:
• Device fabrication on nanomaterials — carbon nanotubes, 2D materials or nanowires.
• Contact engineering and contact-resistance reduction on low-dimensional channels; work-function engineering for complementary operation.
• Low-temperature / BEOL-compatible integration or monolithic 3D process experience.
• Exposure to a 200 mm or 300 mm production environment, or prior collaboration with a foundry, including what it takes to make a recipe transferable.
• Design of experiments, statistical process control, and in-line metrology.
• Cleanroom tool ownership and safety leadership.