Notes from the Director

Welcome to the inaugural volume of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) magazine, MTL Micronotes! The purpose of this annual magazine is to keep MTL alumni, members, industrial consortium and friends up-to-date with the exciting research activities, events, and news from MTL.

2007 proved to be another exciting year for MTL. During the past year our core faculty (30 members) engaged in a broad range of exciting research areas, including device fabrication, integrated circuits and systems, photonics, MEMS, and molecular- and nano-electronics. In addition, more than 110 affiliate members directly benefited from the fabrication and/or CAD infrastructure provided by MTL. Furthermore, over 500 researchers (primarily graduate students) conducted research at MTL, and our faculty, students and staff received several significant awards.

We had many exciting events during my first year as MTL’s director. Our annual student research conference (MARC) was again a big success. Held annually in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, MARC continues to be the flagship technical event of MTL. It is an opportunity for students to present recent research results to their peers, as well as to MTL faculty and industry representatives. And MARC is unique in that it is organized primarily by MTL graduate students, with the help of a steering committee made up of faculty and staff, making it an excellent opportunity for grad students to hone their leadership skills. Over 210 industry members, faculty, students and staff attended MARC 2007, making it one of the most successful conferences to date. You can read more about MARC on page 8.

In this issue, we also spotlight our weekly seminar series (page 6), which included the launch of our newly established biannual MTL Doctoral Dissertation Seminar. The seminars are open to the public, and streaming videos of all seminars are available on the MTL website via a special “members only” page. In addition to these regular seminars, we host the occasional Distinguished Seminar, as well, such as the February 2007 visit from Rich Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments (co-sponsored by RLE and ILP). You can read about Rich Templeton’s visit on page 7.

Of course, MTL couldn’t operate without the generous contributions from our industrial consortium, the Microsystems Industrial Group (MIG). Research and operation is significantly subsidized by MIG, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our MIG members for their continued financial support. The MIG donated equipment and provided directed fellowships, fabrication access to state-of-the-art technologies. I would like to welcome NEC and Cadence, our latest members of the MIG. Furthermore, I would like to thank the members of our Industrial Advisory Board (one member from each of our MIG companies), who provide significant assistance in shaping the vision of MTL.

In addition to financial support, MIG companies provide valuable opportunities for technical interactions with our faculty and students. In 2007, MTL graduate students visited three MIG companies – IBM, National Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments – as part of our newest initiative: MTL visit day to MIG member companies. During each visit, our graduate students presented leading-edge research results to the MIG companies and engaged members in detailed, focused technical discussions. We hope to continue expanding these events. See pages 26-28 for some photos from these events.

One final note: I encourage you to read our annual report, which will be available soon, for a more comprehensive look at MTL, including access to over 230 detailed research abstracts.

I hope you enjoy this issue. We are always eager to hear from you on ways to improve MTL, and we look forward to your continued active participation in the lab research and activities.

Sincerely,

ANANTHA P. CHANDRAKASAN
Director Microsystems
Technology Laboratories

Annual news review of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories at MIT

What's in the Fall 2007 Issue...

Notes from the Director