Collaborative Research: Nonparametric Bayesian Modeling of Reliability of Nonelectronics

这笔赠款为研究纳米电子学的可靠性提供了资金。纳米电子是美国经济强劲增长的驱动力。可靠性被认为是决定纳米制造和制造成功的最关键因素之一。这个合作项目将由一名纳米设备工程师和一名可靠性专家领导。这项跨学科研究的目的是探索有效和实用的非参数贝叶斯方法，在设计和开发的早期阶段评估纳米电子产品的可靠性。具体地说，提出的研究任务包括两个密切相关的部分：(I)开发实用的非参数贝叶斯方法来估计纳米电子器件的重要可靠性指标的分析研究；(Ii)通过制造和表征新开发的基于纳米晶嵌入高k薄膜的非易失性存储器来验证模型的实验研究。在该项目成功完成后，将开发对设计和制造可靠的纳米电子产品至关重要的新方法和工具。这将是第一次基于实验数据和非参数贝叶斯方法对纳米产品的可靠性进行建模和预测的系统研究，这些方法提供了巨大的灵活性和能力，以应对实际产品中影响产量和成本的挑战。这一结果将使制造商能够在早期设计和开发阶段评估新纳米产品的可靠性和涉及的成本，这将加快产品投放市场的速度。此外，新的非易失性存储器件在下一代集成电路(IC)和数据存储方面具有实际应用。这个多学科的研究项目将为学生提供可靠性、半导体器件、薄膜材料和高科技制造工艺方面的理论和实验教育。

This grant provides funding for the investigation of reliability in nanoelectronics. Nanoelectronics is a driving force for strong economic growth in the United States. Reliability is recognized as one of the most critical factors in determining the success of nano fabrication and manufacturing. This collaborative project will be led by a nano device engineer and a reliability specialist. The objective of this interdisciplinary research is to investigate effective and practical nonparametric Bayesian methods to assess the reliability of nanoelectronic products during the early design and development stages. Specially, the proposed research tasks consist of two closely-related components: (i) an analytical study to develop practical nonparametric Bayesian methods for estimating important reliability measures of nanoelectronic devices, and (ii) an experimental study to validate the models by fabricating and characterizing newly developed nonvolatile memories based on nanocrystals embedded high-k thin films. Upon the successful completion of this project, new methods and tools that are critical to design and manufacture reliable nanoelectronic products will be developed. This will be the first systematic study in modeling and predicting reliability of nano products based on experimental data and nonparametric Bayesian methods which offer great flexibility and capability to address challenges in real products influencing yield and cost. The result will enable manufacturers to assess reliability of new nano products and involved costs in the early design and development stages, which would expedite products to the market. Furthermore, the new nonvolatile memory devices have practical applications in future generation integrated circuits (ICs) and data storage. This multidisciplinary research project will provides students with both theoretical and experimental education in reliability, semiconductor devices, thin film materials, and high-tech fabrication processes.