BASF is pleased to announce that Professor YuZhuo Li from Clarkson University, United States, has joined the company. Li, a leading expert in the area of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), will lead BASF’s global CMP research and development team to develop innovative solutions for the semiconductor industry.
“We need more innovative chemicals and materials to enable the development of chips with even smaller minimum feature sizes. I am glad to be joining BASF, a global leader in chemistry. Its broad chemical and application know-how creates an excellent environment for advanced CMP research,” said Li.
“BASF is committed to providing intelligent and innovative solutions for the semiconductor industry, and one of our strategies is to hire the best people. By combining Professor Li’s knowledge and experience with BASF’s international and interdisciplinary R&D resources, we will continue to contribute to the future of the integrated circuit industry,” said Dr. Klemens Mathauer, head of BASF Electronic Materials’ CMP business.
Li has 20 years experience in the research area in the industry. After completing his Ph.D. in organic chemistry, he initially focused on biotechnology before shifting his research focus to the semiconductor industry. Li’s strong organic chemistry background has provided the CMP community with a fresh perspective in solving manufacturing difficulties as he feature sizes in integrated circuits (ICs) continue to move toward 22-nm and below.
Li’s current research interests in CMP include supramolecular design; surface modification and functionalization of abrasive particles; abrasive-free CMP; investigation of polishing mechanisms for copper and STI CMP; and slurry development for copper CMP, STI CMP, and computer hard drive memory disc polishing.
Li is also the writer and editor of over 100 publications, including Microelectronic Applications of Chemical Mechanical Planarization, published in 2007.
The development of ICs with even smaller features sizes than today’s 65-nm technology presents major challenges for the development of new materials and chemicals. CMP is an important process and will continue to play an essential role in enabling the manufacture of more advanced and reduced node size chips.
