DPIA - Dipartimento Politecnico di Ingegneria e Architettura

Description

The group of NanoElectronic Devices and Circuits (NEDeC) is based at the University of Udine, and for more than twenty years we have been working on novel devices and materials for nanoelectronics, and on the circuit-level evaluation of the potential of emerging technologies.

We have graduated more than 30 PhD students and tens of Master level students, who presently hold rewarding positions in academia, in research institutes or in high-tech industries.

The group has been engaged in several aspects related to the scaling of CMOS technologies and their transition from planar to three-dimensional 3-D transistors. Moreover, we have more recently undertaken research activities focused on beyond CMOS devices aimed at an improved energy efficiency, on novel sensors, and on memristors for neuromorphic applications, namely for specialized hardware for artificial intelligence applications.

Our group is very interested to the energy efficiency and the environmental footprint of microelectronics and information technologies. The development of device, circuits and systems able to drastically reduce the energy dissipation is a driving force for most of our research topics.

The research group has a widely recognized international expertise in the area of electronic nanotechnology, including the investigation of innovative materials and new electronic device concepts, the evaluation of the application potential of emerging technologies by means of mixed device-circuit analysis, to the design of integrated circuits for high-frequency, energy-efficient communication systems. Approaches used include modeling, simulation, and experimental characterization and aim at elucidation of fundamental aspects of device and circuit operation, design, and reliability study of devices and circuits.

The group has participated in more than 10 projects funded by the European Community and numerous MIUR FIRB and PRIN projects. The group has also organized major international conferences in the field of nanoelectronics in Udine, the most recent of which are SISPAD 2019, INFOS 2015, ICMTS 2014. Many research activities are carried out in collaboration with leading semiconductor and electronics industries (Infineon Technologies, Villach, Austria; TSMC Europe, Leuven, Belgium; NXP Semiconductors, Belgium), and large national and international research laboratories (MINATECH and University of Grenoble, Grenoble, France; IMEC, Belgium; AMO and University of Aachen, Germany; KTH, Stockholm, Sweden; Elettra, Sincrotrone, Trieste).

Research subjects

Modellistica, simulazione e caratterizzazione sperimentale di prestazioni ed affidabilità di dispositivi elettronici su scala micro e nanometrica
Beyond Moore: nanowires FET, tunnel FETs, Negative-Capacitance FETs, Piezoelectric FETs, dispositivi e transistori basati su grafene e materiali bidimensionali (Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides – TMD);
More than Moore: rivelatori di particelle e radiazione, sensori ISFET e BioFET, con particolare enfasi sui requisiti e le applicazioni dell'elettronica a basso consumo di potenza per l'ICT;
More Moore: transistori tridimensionali (3D FETs) e memorie non-volatili a semiconduttore;
Trasporto di carica con tecniche semi-classiche e completamente quantistiche;
Analisi basata su metodi ab-initio di struttura elettronica e proprietà elettriche di materiali, inclusi grafene e materiali bidimensionali. Studio di etero-strutture con metalli: contatti Ohmici e contatti Schottky;
Analisi mista dispositivo-circuito di tecnologie emergenti per una precoce valutazione delle potenzialità applicative.
Progettazione di circuiti e sistemi elettronici ad alta frequenza per applicazioni telecom ed automotive (PLL, High Speed Serial interfaces, sistemi RFID).