Cañada Students to Present Research on Nano Electronics at National Conference
Wed, 20 February, 2013 at 7:49 am
Three
engineering students studied the performance degradation of integrated circuits
due to aging transistors
Three Cañada College engineering students will present original research on nano-scale circuits at the Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Education Conference to be held March 4-5 in Santa Clara.
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| From left: Jesus Garcia, Hector Prado-Guerrero, and former students John Paulino and Joshua Lohse |
Their paper is titled, “Engaging
Undergraduate Students in Nano-Scale Circuit Research Using Summer Internship.”
Students Jesus Garcia, Hector Prado-Guerrero and Joshua Lohse, who has
subsequently transferred to UC Santa Cruz, all participated in a 10-week summer
research internship through the NASA Curriculum Improvement and PartnershipAwards (CIPAIR) Program. They were joined by former Cañada College student John Paulino, who is now studying engineering at UC Berkeley. The paper describes the results of their work on the
analysis of performance degradation of integrated circuits due to transistor
aging effects in nano-scale.
Nanoelectronics are commonly used
computers, mobile phones, sensors, and electric cars. In nanoelectronics, miniaturized
electronic circuits are integrated on semiconductor chips where the basic
element is the transistor.
Prado-Guerrero, who attended Sequoia
High School in Redwood City before transferring to the Cañada Middle College to
simultaneously earn his high school degree while taking college courses, said
the internship taught him that most transistors can last 8 to 10 years before
failing, long past the time consumers routinely upgrade their devices.
“The internship helped me gain
real-world experience in the field of engineering research,” he said.
The three students studied under San
Francisco State University Professor Hamid Mahmoodi. In Mahmoodi’s lab, they
studied the phenomenon called Soft Oxide Breakdown (SBD) in the performance of
integrated circuits.
“During our research, we investigated if
the SBD could be prevented which means that integrated circuits would last
longer,” said Garcia. “In other words, any device that contains integrated
circuits could last for a longer period saving the consumer money.”
Lohse, who attended Carlmont High School
before transferring to the Cañada Middle College program, said they used a
probe station to test real chips through high or low temperatures to simulate
years of use within a matter of hours. “We don’t want to wait five years for
our results,” said Lohse, who is now studying at the Baskin School of
Engineering at UC Santa Cruz.
If the research is to continue, Lohse
said, the practical application would be the creation of a “silicon odometer.”
He said it would be similar to a car’s odometer, measuring the wear on the chip
and alerting users before the chip fails.
Garcia said the research experience was
invaluable. “I learned how to conduct research, developed work-group skills,
and learned how important these two skills are to successful engineers.”
Prado-Guerrero said he learned not only
how engineering research is conducted, but how it is presented. “It is almost
always more important to be able to present your findings, rather than just
performing studies and research.”
While Lohse has already transferred to
continue his studies, Garcia and Prado-Guerrero will soon be doing the same. Garcia
said he would like to study at UC Berkeley or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and
major in mechanical engineering. Prado-Guerrero wants to study computer
engineering at UC Davis or Cal Poly.
“I feel coming to Cañada was one of the
best choices I’ve ever made,” Prado-Guerrero said. “Working with (Professor of
Mathematics and Engineering) Dr. Amelito Enriquez and Cathy Lipe (Director of
the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Center), the opportunities
here are endless.”
Garcia agreed. “Coming to Cañada has
been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Cañada has an excellent
engineering program and faculty.”
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