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CSUN Professor Receives $60,000 Grant to Research Nanoelectronics

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 4, 2007) — Cal State Northridge physics and astronomy professor Gang Lu has been awarded a $60,000 grant for his research in nanoelectronics.

Lu received a grant from Intel Corporation to support his research in the area of "Multiscale Modeling of Metallic Systems: Selective Applications for Nanoelectronics."

"This is an excellent opportunity to do cutting edge science that is relevant to the real world," said Lu. "The new knowledge gained from this work should translate into engineering improvements of the reliability of microelectronic devices that Intel manufactures, such as semiconductor chips."

The research is being carried out in collaboration with a team of professors at Harvard University. The methodologies developed as part of the project will have a wider scope of applications and could be adapted to other important engineering problems.

The project also will provide an answer to significant questions about multiscale modeling. The goal of multiscale approaches is to predict the performance and behavior of materials across all relevant length and time scales, striving to achieve a balance between accuracy, efficiency and realistic description.

Lu said this is an issue of broad scientific and engineering interest and the findings will pave the way to important applications of direct interest to the microelectronics industry.

"The main outcome of the project will be the development of a suite of multiscale modeling techniques that could be used to address a wide array of practical problems that are of interest to Intel," Lu said. In particular, new developments of modeling techniques would serve to correct failure connections in microelectronic components.

Intel Corporation is one of the world’s leading silicon innovators. It develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live.

California State University, Northridge has more than 35,200 full- and part-time students and offers 62 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.