Final Year Option in Microelectronics

This Final Year option in Microelectronics is to support the national manpower training programmes for the semiconductor industry in general, including the rapidly expanding wafer fabrication industry, and prepare graduates for careers in these thriving industries. The government's plan is to establish as many wafer fabrication plants and hard-disk magnetic media plants as possible in order to cater to the escalating world-wide demand. Upon completion of the program, the student will be well-prepared to enter the semiconductor industry immediately or go on to advanced work in graduate school.

With the continuous growth of microelectronics, graduates who have taken the Final Year Microelectronics Option will form a valuable manpower tool for the semiconductor industry in Singapore. It offers the graduates unparalleled opportunities for challenging careers in the areas of advanced semiconductor technology. For such graduates, the potential for personal advancement and rewards for careers in advanced engineering, management and R&D is extremely high, judging from the huge demand for trained engineers in this field. The courses in this Option will prepare graduates for careers in process engineering, device design and fabrication, product engineering, R&D, customer support, process integration, design, reliability and testing engineering.

Core Subjects

EE4613 CMOS Process & Device Simulation (pending for approval)
Acad Unit : 2.0
Prerequisite : EE3013
Contents :Through dedicated design exercises, students are expected to learn basic trade-off in process influence on device performance, and technology optimization through computer Design of Experiments. They will also learn practical skills in state-of-the-art technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation tools that are routinely used in all semiconductor wafer fabs and apply them for 2D process simulation and numerical device characterization, together with process integration and optimization.

EE4614 Device Parameter Extraction and Layout Implementation (pending for approval)
Acad Unit : 2.0
Prerequisite : E3013
Contents : Through hands-on exercises on device simulation, students will learn how typical current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics of a transistor are obtained. They will learn how basic performance metrics of the transistor are obtained from these simulated characteristics and then used these parameters in a typical circuit simulator to verify the design and performance of practical circuits. Finally, the exposure to mask layout design will enable students to appreciate the entire work flow from device characterization to physical layout implementation.

EE4646 VLSI Technology
Acad Unit : 4.0
Prerequisite : E3013
Contents : MOSFET and NMOS process technology. CMOS process technology. Bipolar process technology. MOS scaling rules and small geometry effects. CMOS isolation and latchup. MOS memory fabrication technology. Advanced VLSI fabrication technologies.

EE4647 Microelectronic Devices
Acad Unit : 4.0
Prerequisite : Nil
Contents : Bipolar devices. MOS device physics. MOSFET device characteristics and modelling. Device scaling effects. CMOS devices and operation. Semiconductor memories. Introduction to Heterojunction devices.

EE4648 Flat Penel Display Technology
Acad Unit : 4.0
Prerequisite : Nil
Contents : Overview of display technologies. Ergonomics of displays. Liquid crystal cell. Liquid crystal displays technologies. Field emission displays. Plasma displays. Electroluminescent displays. Recent advances in display technologies.

EE4694 IC Reliability and Failure Analysis
Acad Unit : 4.0
Prerequisite : Nil
Contents : IC wafer fabrication yield modelling and process optimization. Design of experiment. Basic reliability concepts. Statistical aspect of reliability and data handling. Microelectronic device failure mechanism. Failure analysis techniques and instrumentation. In-process reliability screening test. IC reliability accelerated tests and standards.

EE4695 Semiconductor Physics
Acad Unit : 4.0
Prerequisite : Nil
Contents : Elements of quantum mechanics. Crystal structure. Thermal properties of semiconductor crystals. Bands structures of semiconductor crystals. Dielectric, optical and transport properties of semiconductors. Semiconductor microstructures and lasers.

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Career Opportunities

Singapore has made great progress in its strategic goal to become Silicon Island of the region. We aim to be one of the few key semiconductor manufacturing sites in the world, supported by about 19 wafer fabrication plants (or fabs) and many more (>100) related and supporting semiconductor engineering companies.

As microelectronics is a very high value added industry, its contribution to and impact on the Singapore economy are significant and rapidly growing. Currently, fourteen Si fabs and five compound semiconductor fabs have been established and several more are in the pipeline. They belong to Hitachi Nippon Steel Semiconductor S’pore Ltd, ST Microelectronics, TECH Semiconductor Singapore Pte Ltd, Chartered Silicon Partners, Silicon Manufacturing Partners, Systems on Silicon Manufacturing and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (CSM – which is one of the world’s largest chip foundries). Many of these fabs are already 12-inch fabs, and many more are in the process of being converted and upgraded. It is useful to note that each fab involves an investment well above one billion dollars, and employs about 400 engineers. To cope up with the continuing demands in the wafer fab industry, Panasonic, Micron and NEC Electronics are investing heavily on additional assembly and test facilities in Singapore.

In addition to the fabs, numerous engineer positions are available in many supporting semiconductor engineering companies already established in Singapore. These include Applied Materials Inc., ASM Inc., Silicon Valley Group, Tokyo Electron Limited etc. Many more new high value added engineer positions are constantly being created. Due to the rapid growth and high tech nature of this industry, many companies provide parallel paths for career growth into very senior engineering positions (Principal Engineer, Consultant, Fellow, etc) or into engineering and high level management.

Microelectronics will continue to be the engine of growth for the Internet, computers and communications into the new millenium. Exciting career opportunities in microelectronics research and development are already available in a number of research organizations and fabs in Singapore. This option will also give you opportunities to participate in the creation of new and important technologies for the future.

Please visit our EEE School website for complete information.

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