Prof. Francesca Iacopi, IEEE DL, from the University of Technology Sydney, and Prof. Paul Berger, IEEE DL, from Ohio State University, presented their research with the lectures “Graphene on cubic silicon carbide: integrated functionalities on silicon” and “Si-based Resonant Interband Tunnel Diodes for Quantum Functional and Multi-level Circuitry (Mixed-Signal, Logic, and Low Power Embedded Memory) to Extend CMOS” to the interested audience.

From the beginning, it became clear that the EDS vision, ‘Providing excellence in the field of electron devices for the benefit of humanity’ connects the researchers with the same motivation for their application-oriented research on novel electronic devices.

Starting with a tour at the Institute for Semiconductor and Microsystems Technology, Dr. André Heinzig and Prof. Thomas Mikolajick presented the research on reconfigurable devices and their 2Ddevice activities at the TUD Chair for Nanoelectronics. The research on organic electronic devices was presented in a tour by Dr. Hans Kleemann and Prof. Karl Leo at the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP). The event organization was supported by Sandra Bley from the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed).

Professor Iocapi introduced her distinguished lecture with a look at the fascinating properties of graphene. She pointed out that the consideration has to be differentiated to the application fields of electronics, chemistry, or physics and that in almost all cases, graphene is combined with other materials, which significantly influences its properties. As one of the essential steps for the industrial implementation of graphene, the challenge is providing uniform wafer-scale growth methods. Francesca Iacopis’s achievements in epitaxial graphene growth on SiC demonstrated an impressive result of uniform wafer-scale processing. She continued the topic by presenting charge transfer doping and the characterization of fabricated devices. The formation of buffer layers depending on the crystallization of the SiC exhibited different electrical properties. Impressive achievements in providing patterning techniques with solid sources and catalytic alloys demonstrated additional device design flexibility. The lecture was finalized with a video on applying brain-computer interfaces, e.g., to control robots using the biocompatibility and robustness of epitaxially fabricated Si/SiC/graphene sensors.

Professor Berger began his presentation by introducing Ohio State University and the outstanding individuals and historical developments in electronic devices at this place. After the theoretical background on interband tunnel diodes, he demonstrated ways to reduce circuit complexity, e.g., for oscillators and multivalued logic, using negative differential resistance (NDR) devices instead of conventional transistors. His group’s developments in the field showed impressive results with record peak-to-valley ratios using both epitaxially grown and CVD-grown devices. In particular, the developed delta doping techniques in Si / SiGe structures allow high band bending, enabling efficient band-to-band tunneling of charge carriers resulting in high tunnel currents.

In the subsequent discussion sessions, the interest of the audience in the device topics as well as the expanding potential for the IEEE community became apparent. The guests’ and host groups’ complementary research fields lead to expect a close exchange and cooperation in the development of future electronic devices.

After the lectures, Prof. Berger and Iacopi were hosted by Dr. Kleemann and Prof. Leo at Dresden Integrated Center for Applied Physics and Photonic Materials (IAPP), where they saw recent developments on flexible organic solar cells, printed human-machine interfaces, and polymer-based neuromorphic circuits. Unfortunately, Prof. Iacopi had to head back to the airport in the late afternoon. However, Prof. Berger and Dr. Kleemann used the occasion to continue the discussion and shared anecdotes with a glass of beer in front of the famous Frauenkirche in the scenic heart of Dresden.