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MEAM Seminar: “Aluminum Scandium Nitride Microdevices for Next Generation Nonvolatile Memory and Microelectromechanical Systems”
September 29, 2020 at 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Aluminum Nitride (AlN) is a well-established thin film piezoelectric material. AlN bulk acoustic wave (BAW) radio frequency (RF) filters were one of the key innovations that enabled the 3G and 4G smart phone revolution. Recently, the substitutional doping of scandium (Sc) for aluminum (Al) to form aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) has been studied to significantly enhance the piezoelectric properties and to introduce ferroelectric properties into AlN based material systems. The properties achieved have profound implications for the performance of future 5G and 6G RF filters, piezoelectric sensors, piezoelectric energy harvesters, and for scaling the bit density of ferroelectric nonvolatile memories. This talk will present on the synthesis of highly Sc doped AlScN materials of the thickness and quality needed for applications in memory and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The material properties achieved will be reported and placed in the context of device specific figures-of-merit and competing material systems. Ferroelectric and electromechanical devices that utilize the unique properties of AlScN to achieve state-of-the-art (SOA) performance will be shown.
Troy Olsson
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
Roy (Troy) H. Olsson III is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include materials, devices, and architectures for low-power processing of wireless, sensor, and biological signals. Prior to joining Penn, Troy was a Program Manager in the DARPA Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), where he led multiple programs in the areas of low energy sensing and communications. From 2004 to 2014, Troy was a Principal Electronics Engineer in the MEMS Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories where he established research efforts in piezoelectric microdevices for processing of RF, inertial and optical signals. He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2004. His graduate research was in the areas of low-power electronics and sensor arrays for interfacing with the central nervous systems. Troy has authored more than 100 technical journal and conference papers and holds 32 patents in the areas of microelectronics and microsystems. He was awarded an R&D100 award in 2011 for his work on Microresonator Filters and Frequency References, was named the 2017 DARPA program manager of the year, and was the recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 2019.