Atomera Pushing the Frontiers of Innovation With UC Berkeley Collaboration
By: Hideki Takeuchi, Vice President of Engineering, Atomera
The semiconductor industry is complex and increasingly requires collaboration to maintain innovation. Atomera is constantly pushing the boundaries of what materials can do. We’ve talked about our work with Arizona State University, and we’re also working with the University of California, Berkeley Emerging Technologies Research (BETR) Center.
Atomera has had a long history with Professor Tsu-Jae King Liu, including ten joint publications and funding research with UC Berkeley. I first met Professor King Liu when she was a second-year faculty at UC Berkeley in 1997. As part of her research team, I worked on many exciting projects including the original FinFET fabrication and characterization program, a HKMG process and materials study, novel memories and RF-MEMS. So, when she was appointed Dean of Engineering in 2018 and launched the BETR Center program, it was a natural fit for Atomera to become an active member.
Organizations like BETR are crucial to establishing ecosystems dedicated to semiconductor development and pathfinding. Our journey with UC Berkeley has been marked by mutual benefit and continuous growth. The organization acts as an equalizer, giving the smallest company the same seat at the table as some of the biggest tech companies in the world. That has provided an environment for us to accelerate the performance enhancement of our MST technology in various technology fields, from analog and power devices in legacy nodes to leading edge non-planar CMOS, as well as extending and deepening our fundamental understanding of MST physics for device applications.
This collaboration also offers UC Berkeley students and faculty valuable insights into how their research addresses real-world issues. Through joint research initiatives and knowledge-sharing sessions, we are paving the way for groundbreaking developments in the semiconductor industry.
This inclusion — along with other collabs with top-tier institutions such as San José State University, Pennsylvania State University and University of Notre Dame — continues to validate Atomera’s commitment to power the future of U.S. semiconductor production.
Check out the BETR Center’s Annual Report for a closer look at this collaboration and our research.