Rivers flow across the planet’s surface, carving deep valleys and intricate canyons. Likewise, makers of microelectronics direct plasma, an ionized gas, to travel over silicon wafers, etching intricate patterns, creating pathways for electrical energy and forging the complex circuits required by today’s devices.
These microchips power everything from fighter jets to flat-panel televisions.
But experts at Applied Materials, a global innovator in semiconductor manufacturing, believe this process can be improved. They have turned to Kookjin Lee, an emerging leader in scientific machine learning research, to study the physics of plasma and glean insights that can improve microchip manufacturing.
Lee is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. He has received a three-year grant from Applied Materials to create artificial intelligence, or AI, solutions that improve the manufacturing systems of plasma chambers where microchip etching takes place.
Down to a science
Lee studies a form of AI known as scientific machine learning. He creates algorithms, or the instructions computers use to do their work, that combine a level of awareness of key facts about the natural sciences, especially physics, with expert knowledge.
Building on this approach, Lee seeks to train an AI model using what experts at Applied Materials know about their microchips and what physicists understand about plasma. The result will be software that can make accurate predictions about what can happen in the plasma chamber during the manufacturing process.
“Applied Materials is out to make the best quality semiconductor,” Lee says. “So, what we’d like to do is build machine learning systems that can help them evaluate their manufacturing processes — to quickly know whether design changes will lead to success or failure.”
The project’s aim is to speed up production, lower manufacturing costs and reduce microchip defects.
Satheesh Kuppurao, Group Vice President for Business Development and Growth in the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, says that these research grants are part of a strategic vision to bring the most innovative products to market.
“We want to partner with academia on the toughest challenges,” Kuppurao says. “Academic researchers often have the depth of knowledge and talent to solve long-term problems.”
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