Team

CURRENT RESEARCHERS

Taylor Smith
Graduate Researcher
taylorgsmith@ucla.edu

Plasma assisted materials processing
Delineating the effect of low energy ions on directional modification of etch-resistant materials, thereby realizing ideal etching directionality and selectivity.

Owen Watkins
Graduate Researcher
owenwat@ucla.edu

Etch processes for BEOL material integration
Developing improved etch chemistry for back end of line materials to optimize etching parameters including anisotropy, selectivity, and roughness, with a focus on plasma processing.

Chi-Yun (Coco) Lin
Graduate Researcher
thechiyun@ucla.edu

Evaluating alternative and environmentally friendly etchants and processes

Brian Park
Graduate Researcher
dbpark2@ucla.edu

Characterization of etch products from atomic layer etching processes
Developing mitigation strategies of down-stream reaction in commonly used chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) through in-situ monitoring and ex-situ analysis.

Daniel Cho
Graduate Researcher
danielycho@g.ucla.edu

Elucidating surface effects of etching

Sei-won Chung
Graduate Researcher
seiwon92@g.ucla.edu

Processing of Novel BEOL Interconnect Materials

FORMER RESEARCHERS

Katie Mackie, PhD (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Jaclyn Wang (High School Intern)

Jonathan Yang (High School Intern)

Adrian Acosta, PhD
Engineering of Iron Gallium and Hafnium Oxide Interfaces for Magnetoelectric Applications
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Xia (Gary) Sang, PhD
Plasma-Thermal Atomic Layer Etching of Metals
Currently: HiSilicon Research

Hamid Razavi, PhD (postdoctoral researcher)
Plasma assisted atomic layer deposition and atomic layer etching
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Caitlyn Chen (Summer Intern)
Currently: UCLA

Yicheng (Betty) Liu (Summer Intern, Undergraduate Researcher)
Characterization and Control of Energetic Reactions in the Downstream Sections of Deposition Tools and Simulation of Feature Profile
Currently: University of Minnesota

Norleakvisoth Lim (Summer Intern, Undergraduate Researcher)
Characterization and Control of Energetic Reactions in the Downstream Sections of Deposition Tools and Density Functional Theory Calculation of HfO2
Currently: UCSB

Victoria Ng (Summer Intern)
Synthesis and characterization of metal oxide thin films

Lyn Genota (NSF RET, High School Teacher)
MESA course development

Arabella Dill-Macky (High School Intern)
Thin film materials for lithium ion battery
Currently: Princeton

Jae Seung Hwang

Currently: UCLA

Kevin Fitzell, PhD
Integration of Piezoelectric and Magnetostrictive Materials

Ernest Chen, PhD
Ultra-thin Ion Conductive Films as Solid Electrolytes for Energy Storage
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Ryan Sheil, PhD
Ultra-thin Ion Conductive Films as Solid Electrolytes for Energy Storage
Currently: Applied Materials

Nicholas Altieri, PhD
Etch Chemistry Selection for Enabling Atomic Layer Etch of Metals
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Jeffrey Chang, PhD
Atomic Layer Deposition Enabled Multiferroic Composites Integration for Memory Applications
Currently: McKinsey, Taipei

Sarah Lohmar (High School Intern)
Currently: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Caroline Yaeger (High School Intern)

Cyrus Cheung, PhD
Nano-structure Enabled Magnetoelectric Composites
Currently: Intel Corporation, Oregon

Colin Rementer, PhD
Ferromagnetic Thin Films for High Frequency Applications
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Luke Minardi
Engineering Thin Film Solid Electrolytes
Currently: UCLA

Jack Chen, PhD.
Generalized Approach in Selecting Plasma Chemistries for Metal Etch
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Diana Chien, PhD.
Atomic Layer Deposition of Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃Thin Films for PiezoMEMS and Multiferroic Applications
Currently: Raytheon

Trevor Seegmiller (Masters Student)
Engineering Thin Film Solid Electrolytes
Currently: ON Semiconductor

Alex Will-Cole (TANMS undergraduate)
Dielectric Integration into Multilayered Ferroelectric Thin Films
Currently: University of Arizona

Nick Ouassil (TANMS undergraduate)
Optimization of Magnetic Properties of Multilayer Thin Films
Currently: University of Buffalo

Calvin Pham, PhD.
ALD Multiferroic Nanostructures
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Jea Cho, PhD.
Solid Electrolyte Thin Films
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Taeseung "Father" Kim, PhD.
Post-doctoral Researcher
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Younghee Kim, PhD.
Post-doctoral Researcher
Currently: Korean Institute of Science and Technology

Michael Paine (undergraduate)
Plasma Processing
Institution: UCLA, Class of 2014

Juan Casillas (TANMS undergraduate)
PZT
Institution: UCLA, Class of 2014

Edward McAboy (TANMS undergraduate)
Multiferroics
Institution: UCLA, Class of 2015

Taylor Evanko (undergraduate)
CoFeB
Institution: UCLA, Class of 2015

Vladan Jankovic
Core-shell nanostructures for plasmonics
Currently: Northrop Grumman, California

Nathan Marchack
Plasma Patterning of Complex Materials
Currently: IBM, New York

Ya-Chuan (Sandy) Perng
Engineering Epitaxial Metal Oxides on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors
Currently: Intel Corporation, Oregon

Kristen Fernhoff
Comparison of intrinsic and engineered multi-ferroic materials
Currently: Washington University, St Louis

James Dorman
Multifunctional Metal Oxide Nanostructures
Currently: Louisiana State University

Han Chueh
Density functional theory study of complex metal oxides

Ashley Armenta
Characterization of the Electronic and Electrical Properties of Metal Oxides
Mayfield Senior School, CA

Katia Ameri (High School Intern)
Marlborough School, Los Angeles, Ca
Electrochemistry Study for Micro-Lithium Ion Batteries
Currently: Stanford University

Brett Berens (undergraduate)
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study of Plasma Etched Metal Oxides and Device Testing

Tara Chang (High School Intern)
Simulation of a Cylindrical Ion Trap as a Micro-Chemical Analyzer
Marlborough High School, CA.
Currently: MIT

Byeong-Ok Cho, Ph.D. (postdoctoral researcher)
Spectroscopic Studies of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD)
Currently: Samsung Electronics, Korea

Jongwoo Choi, Ph.D. (postdoctoral researcher)
Spectroscopic Studies of Dielectric/Semiconductor Interfaces
Currently: GE Research, New York

Karen Chu (Masters Student)
Electrical Characterization of Carbon-Doped Ta2O5 Films for Embedded DRAM Applications
Currently: Nanomix, Inc., California

Kimberly Cross (Masters Student)
Surface Chemistry of Organometallic Precursors
Currently: UCLA

Dolores Cruz (Ph.D Student)
Chemical Microelectromechanical Systems
Currently: Intel Corporation, California

Carissa Eisler (Undergraduate)
Analysis of Ultra-Thin Films and Interfaces by Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS).
Currently: Caltech

Kelly Halford (High School Intern)
Microfluidics
Mayfield Senior School, Pasadena, CA.
Currently: Princeton University

John Hoang
Sensitizer co-doped Er:Y2O3 Thin Films for Optical Applications
Currently: Lam Research Corporation

Chengche (Jerry) Hsu, Ph.D. (Post Doc)
High Density Plamsa Diagnostics and Simulation
Currently: National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Vladan Jankovic (Masters Student)
FET-based Microchemical Sensors Employing HfO2 and ZrO2
Currently: Northrop Grumman Corporation, California

John Keagy (undergraduate)
Solid State Electronic Device Fabrication
Currently: UT Austin

Angela Ku (High School Intern)
High Density Plasma Etching Processes
Mayfield Senior School, CA.
Currently: Yale University

Sandy Lao (Masters Student)
Investigation of Plasma Enhanced Deposition of Zirconium Oxide and Hafnium Oxide Thin Films
Currently: Intel Corporation, Arizona

Jingyan (Leo) Li (Masters Student)
Deposition of Functionally Engineered Dielectric Thin Films
Currently: Intel Corporation, New Mexico

Vu Le (Masters Student)
Plasma Reactor Scale Modeling
Currently: Matech Advanced Materials, Westlake Village

Shirley Lee (undergraduate)
Infrared Spectroscopy of Thin Film Analysis
Currently: UC Irvine

Jasmine Lin (undergraduate)
Diagnostic instrumentation on an ECR reactor for thin film deposition
Currently: Process Development Engineer, Novellus Systems, Inc.

You-Sheng (Wilson) Lin, Ph.D.
Synthesis and Integration of High-k Dielectric Materials
Currently: UCLA Nanoelectronics Research Facility

Jiurong Liu, Ph.D. (Post-Doc)
Material and Electrical Characterization of Metal Oxides Synthesized by Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition
Currently: Shandong University

Ryan Martin, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Student)
High Density Plasma Enhanced Patterning of Metal Oxides
Currently: IBM, New York

Monica Sawkar-Mathur, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Student)
Deposition of Functionally Engineered Dielectric Thin Films
Currently: Intermolecular, San Jose

Yuanbing Mao, Ph.D. (Post-Doc)
Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Oxide Nano-structures
Currently: University of Texas, Pan American

Chris McCormick (undergraduate)
First-Principles Study of Silicon Carbide, a promising wide band gap semiconductor
Currently: Graduate Student, Stanford

Ragesh Puthenkovilakam, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student)
Experimental and Theoretical Studies of High-k Dielectrics on Silicon
Currently: Intel Corporation, Oregon

Desiree Ramirez (Masters Student)
Ion-enhanced Chemical Etching of Metal Oxides in Chlorine Based Plasmas
Currently: Accenture, California

Phedellee Reyer (High School Intern)
Process for Creating Complimentary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductors (CMOS)
Mayfield Senior School, Pasadena, CA.
Currently: University of California, Irvine

Lin Sha, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student)
Plasma Enhanced Etching of Metal Oxides
Currently: Intel Corporation, Oregon

Yen Ta (Masters Student)
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of halogen etched metal oxide films
Currently: Analog Device, California

Melat Tafesse
Microstructures of Ultra-thin Dielectric Films
Currently: Micron, Virginia

Carey Tanner, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Student)
Engineering Compositionally Controlled Crystalline Metal Oxides on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors
Currently: Luna Nanoworks, Virginia