Category: News

The Illinois Plasma Institute and Research (IPI) is pleased to announce that graduate student Christian Williams has successfully defended his PhD thesis, marking a significant milestone for both the institute and the broader field of sustainable semiconductor manufacturing.

Christian’s dissertation addresses one of the emerging challenges in chip fabrication: the accumulation of difficult-to-remove residues that result from evolving photoresist chemistries and material stacks. As the semiconductor industry continues to advance lithographic and etch technologies, the chemical cleaning steps required to maintain device yield have grown increasingly complex, and increasingly reliant on hazardous chemical formulations.

“In the pursuit of environmentally friendly solutions to current semiconductor cleaning technologies, atmospheric pressure plasmas may be a suitable alternative.”

Christian’s work demonstrates the potential of plasma-activated water (PAW) as a viable alternative to conventional solutions based on tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH). Through systematic control experiments, he showed that TiO₂ residue removal,a key cleaning challenge, responds distinctly to peroxide and nitrate species, the two primary reactive components generated when plasma is used to treat liquid media.

Building on this chemical foundation, Christian developed process margins using a DC pin-to-liquid system to achieve targeted species concentrations. In a final set of experiments, he applied an atmospheric pressure plasma directly above a TiO₂-coated wafer submerged in an electrolyte solution, achieving removal rates comparable to the best-performing chemical formulations, without the use of hazardous chemicals.

These findings open a promising path toward greener semiconductor cleaning processes and underscore IPI’s commitment to translating fundamental plasma science into real-world industrial impact. We congratulate Christian on this outstanding achievement and wish him continued success in his career.

Last week we welcomed the CEO of Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) to the Illinois Plasma Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. TEL is a long-standing partner of IPI, and our collaboration runs deep, from plasma etch and deposition process R&D to digital twin development for next-generation semiconductor manufacturing tools. Having leadership from one of the world’s leading semiconductor equipment companies on-site is a strong signal of the value this partnership continues to create for both sides. Visits like this are more than symbolic. They sharpen research direction, accelerate technology transfer, and reinforce why university-industry partnerships matter, especially as the industry pushes toward increasingly complex process nodes and advanced packaging architectures. Looking forward to deepening this collaboration and to what we build together next.

In a recent announcement from the American Vacuum Society (AVS), Research Assistant Professor Dren Qerimi of the Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) department has been honored with the AVS Plasma Science and Technology Division’s Young Investigator Award. The AVS conference took place this week in Charlotte, NC. The prestigious accolade recognizes his significant contributions to both basic and applied plasma research. As the Associate Director of the Illinois Plasma Institute (IPI), Prof. Qerimi attributes this work to the entire IPI staff for their hard work and dedication to advancing the field of science.

Congratulations to Tag Choi for being selected as one of five finalists for the 2025 Coburn and Winters (C&W) Student Award, presented by the Plasma Science and Technology Division (PSTD) of the American Vacuum Society (AVS).

As a finalist, Tag will be awarded a cash prize and the opportunity to win the award for an additional cash prize and certificate. After a closed session where he and the other finalists will present their work, the ultimate winner of the award will be announced on Thursday September 25.

Congratulations again to Tag and good luck!

The SMART (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins) USA Institute hosted their inaugural summit on June 26 and 27th in Arlington, Virginia. This summit was an opportunity for leaders within the industry, government, and academia to discuss the future of semiconductor manufacturing in America. Specifically, this summit focused on digital twin research, virtual replicas of physical systems that allow researchers to have real-time monitoring, simulation, and optimization.

IPI’s Associate Director, Professor Dren Qerimi, attended to discuss and learn on behalf of IPI and the University. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also is now Tier 1 Member of SMART USA, giving the university a voice amongst leaders in the industry and access to resources from other members.

IPI Associate Director Dren Qerimi attended the combined IEEE Pulsed Power & Plasma Scienced Conference and IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science in Berlin, Germany last month. The combined conferences covered topics in plasma science and engineering as well as in pulsed power science and technology.

Professor Qerimi gave a talk titled “University-scale Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Source” that discussed and explored how cutting-edge EUV technology—an area that is usually reserved for industrial giants—can be reimagined and scaled for academic research environments.

This June, IPI Director David Ruzic established the first named professorship of the NPRE department in honor of his parents, Neil and Carol Ruzic. This professorship will be put towards plasma-related faculty to continue to enhance the department’s mission in plasma engineering.

You can more about the new professorship, its namesakes, and the vision for the future of plasma in NPRE here: New named professorship carries on legacy of Ruzic family | Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering | Illinois

IPI Associate Director Dren Qerimi traveled to Saudi Arabia in May to attend the “Future of Semiconductors Forum” for two days. This forum was put on by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Professor Qerimi had the opportunity to share IPI’s work on the in-house built EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) source as well as learn from other leaders in the field. This forum offered both great discussions about the next generation of semiconductor technology and offered opportunities to connect with people across the world in the field.

In Professor Qerimi’s own words, he is “Excited about the future we’re building together—across borders and disciplines”.