Associate Professor (Electrical Engineering)

Office: Stocker Center 361
Telephone: (740) 597-1633
Fax: 740-593-0007
Email: kaya@ohio.edu

The Nanoelectronic Devices group at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is led by Dr. Savas Kaya.  Focusing largely on silicon-based device technologies, the group has expertise and facilities for both simulation/modeling and fabrication of novel silicon devices, nanoscale prototype circuits, integrated nano-opto-bio systems and microfluidic systems.

- The ongoing acceleration of silicon CMOS scaling and its likely demise in the next decade guides the diverse range of device studies in the group.  In addition to device studies, we also aim at integrating such novel devices in mixed-signal systems, chemical and electrical sensors, system-on-chip and lab-on-a-chip applications.

- Nanoelectronic Devices such as decanano MOSFETs with multiple gates or channels are expected to bring new opportunities and paradigms in device design and operation.  To extend CMOS device performance and functionality, we search for novel device architectures as well as using non-conventional materials such as strained Si/SiGe/Ge heterochannels.

- Reconfigurable Nanocircuits based on nano-scale MOSFETs are expected to maximize the opportunities arising at the end of Silicon roadmap as a result of novel device physics and architectures.  Our group specializes on CMOS circuits built with new device paradigms such as double-gate (DG) MOSFETs and optimized for mixed-signal (analog & digital) systems on ultra-thin SOI substrates.  Performance leverage through such reconfigurable circuits requires deep insight into device physics and accurate models.  We aim at extending Moore’s scaling trends by use of better circuit engineering, giving more time for more revolutionary devices to be developed, while also saving area and power.

- Biomolecular Devices for Logic and Storage: Molecular electronics has attractive features such as self-assembly, thermodynamic efficiency and multi-functionality.  As a result, they are expected to impact post-CMOS device technologies.  Following this trend, our group is currently focusing on transmembrane proteins (ion pumps and ion channels) to study their device applications but experimentally and theoretically.  In particular we focus on SERCA (Ca pump) and Na-K ion pumps as these utilize chemical energy liberated from hydrolysis of ATP.  Exact operation and structure of these molecules are still under investigation, which can be aided by our simulation studies using molecular dynamics (MD) tools and simplified continuum models to be refined by actual experiments carried out by Rakowski group at the department of Biological Sciences.

- Micro and Nanofabrication facilities in our group has reached recently a critical mass, enabling us to pursue a number of competitive device ideas and technologies. In particular we are interested in developing

• sub-100nm double-gate MOSFETs on SOI substrates,
• microfludic devices for lab-on-a-chip applications
• 2D nanostructures of silicon using self assembled alumina nanopores.

Preliminary results on above fabrication processes have been achieved. Over the next year, we expect to produce prototype devices in all three fronts above.


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