Research in Semiconductor Technology in CBE targets to advance the physical limits of modern microelectronics, addressing critical bottlenecks in thermal management, energy efficiency, and scalable nanofabrication. By combining novel material synthesis, computation, and advanced optical physics, faculty members are developing foundational technologies to power next-generation computing, ultra-sensitive optoelectronics, and advanced microelectronic packaging. This research portfolio is unified under three primary technological frontiers: 

• Next-Generation Device Materials and Understanding Environmental Factors: To transcend the limitations of conventional silicon, researchers are designing novel wide-bandgap and functional materials. The primary focus includes engineering novel wurtzite ferroelectrics tailored for energy-efficient computing, high-density data storage, and resilient, high-temperature electronics. Also, investigations into how external environmental factors, such as adsorbed surface water and internal lattice defects, fundamentally dictate the electronic, electrical, and tribological (friction and wear) properties of semiconductor surfaces. 
• Advanced Node Packaging and Thermal Management: As semiconductor devices continue to shrink, power density and heat dissipation have become primary limiters of performance. Faculty are actively addressing these challenges through the discovery of advanced dielectric materials. Key initiatives focus on identifying novel dielectrics that simultaneously possess exceptionally high thermal conductivity to rapidly pull heat away from active junctions, and low permittivity (low-κ) to minimize parasitic capacitance and signal delay in advanced node microelectronic packaging. 
• Chiroptical Metamaterials and Nanopatterning: Research at the intersection of optics and nanotechnology is expanding the functionality of semiconductor architectures. Faculty are leveraging light-induced chiral synthesis to achieve precise assembly of optical nanomaterials, enabling scalable metasurface patterning with strict chirality control. These efforts support the development of chiral photonic metamaterials capable of ultra-sensitive chiroptical responses, paving the way for polarization-dependent optoelectronic devices and advanced optical computing components. 

By bridging fundamental physical principles with targeted hardware solutions, and supported by core expertise in understanding the complex assembly of multi-material mixtures, the department’s semiconductor research provides the innovative materials and processing frameworks vital to sustaining the momentum of the global microelectronics industry. 

Representative research projects in this area are: 

• Influence of adsorbed water and lattice defects on the electronic, electrical, and tribological properties of semiconductors  (Chakrapani). 
• Design of novel wurtzite ferroelectrics for energy-efficient computing and data storage, and high-temperature electronics (Gorai). 
• Discovery of high thermal conductivity, low permittivity dielectrics for advanced node packaging  (Gorai). 
• Light-induced chiral synthesis and assembly of optical nanomaterials for scalable metasurface patterning with precise chirality control (Kim). 
• Chiral photonic metamaterials for ultra-sensitive chiroptical responses and polarization-dependent optoelectronic functionalities (Kim). 
• Understanding the assembly of mixtures of materials (Underhill).