Keynote Speakers

IRPS 2021 Keynote Speakers:

Memory’s journey towards the future information and communications technology (ICT) world

Abstract: 

With the acceleration of digital transformation under the fourth industrial revolution, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed our daily lives, giving rise to digital healthcare, remote learning/conferencing, to name a few. Such transformation, along with the integration of AI and 5G network, is likely to help create new values from a vast pool of data, and is likely to lead us towards an era of information, communication, and technology, where large amounts of information are delivered with unprecedented speed and accuracy. To enable such transformation, increasingly high speed, low power, high capacity, and high reliability memory semiconductors are required. Within the memory semiconductor industry, we have continued to overcome the technological challenges of DRAM scaling and NAND flash stacking by making continuous improvements. However, the pace of semiconductor technology development is yet to catch up with the rate at which data is produced, which necessitates still more innovative semiconductor technologies to handle the explosive growth in data. In this speech, I would like to introduce SK hynix’s journey towards future technological advancement. Also, I would like to suggest finding solutions to problems together through the collaboration among the industry/academia/research, with a goal of making a better world with information and communications technologies (ICT) through sharing rather than through competition.

 

Seok-Hee Lee
President & CEO of SK hynix

Seok-Hee Lee is the president and chief executive officer of SK hynix.  He has led the innovation of  memory and CIS technology to secure the company’s growth ever since he was appointed to the position in December 2018.  Most recently, he drove the acquisition of Intel’s NAND business, as announced in 2020.

Previously, he held several leadership positions at SK hynix.  In 2013, he headed R&D, as the senior vice president and chief technology officer, overseeing the development of all the new semiconductor technologies and processes.  From 2014, he headed DRAM Development Business, driving the development of DRAM process technology for further scaling.   From 2016, prior to becoming the CEO, Dr. Lee served as the company’s chief operating officer, responsible for all of the company’s business.

Dr. Lee first joined Hyundai Electronics (now, SK hynix) in 1990, and worked as a senior researcher. From 2000, he worked at Intel, as a principal engineer and a group leader, responsible for process improvement.  From 2010 to 2013, he was the Associate Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at KAIST(Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), where his research was primarily on scaling and manufacturing semiconductors.

Dr. Lee received Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and both M.S and B.S in Inorganic Materials Science and Engineering from Seoul National University.


SiC MOSFET Reliability: An overnight success 30 years in the making

John Palmour
CTO Cree /Wolfspeed

Abstract: The rapid adoption of SiC MOSFETs may seem like an overnight sensation, but it was actually more than 30 years in the making. It has required orders of magnitude improvements in performance, cost, availability and quality. Improved material defect densities and larger wafer diameters are lowering cost and are allowing higher current products that fit the needs of the battery electric vehicle market. 

In the early days of SiC power device technology, it was thought that SiC MOSFETs could never achieve the reliability lifetimes required for commercial markets.   However, the quality of oxides grown on SiC are now being shown to be on par with the best silicon devices. Measurements of TDDB, breakdown voltages, radiation resistance and other critically important tests for SiC MOS devices will be demonstrated, and the issue of bias temperature instability (threshold voltage shift) in actual application conditions will also be discussed.


Laying the Groundwork for 6G communications

Peter Gammel
CTO MWI at GlobalFoundries

Abstract: 

With the deployment of 5G accelerating, it is essential to lay the groundwork for 6G now. In this talk we will explore some of the megatrends driving the need to 6G, as well as some of the unique opportunities that 6G will enable. We will also review the need for coordination between WLAN, 6G and LEO communication to create the seamless, ubiquitous and secure communications network of the future. As the spectrum for 6G data rates is likely to extend beyond 100GHz, we will also review semiconductor device performance for 100GHz-300GHz networks, with a focus on advance SiGe and fully-depleted SOI technologies.


IoT End-node Device: Built to Last (in cooperation with IEW)

Alessandro Piovaccari
CTO Silicon Labs

Abstract: 

End-node IoT devices are aimed to ubiquitous adoption, with projections of over a trillion installed devices within the next 5-10 years. This translates to requirements such as low-energy consumption and long product life cycles while meeting demanding low-cost constraints. From the engineering point of view, upgradeability, security and reliability are among the main issues to solve. Traditional design techniques based on worst case analysis do not provide the required level of optimization in this case which in turn provides ample opportunities for more innovation.

In this keynote, we will show how knowledge of the usage context and application must be used to achieve this complex and multi-faceted goal. Moreover, the fact that these devices are almost always wirelessly connected to the cloud, can be used to our advantage for monitoring and improving their lifetime in the field via methods such as machine learning.