Microsystems Technology Laboratories

On Friday, February 28th, as part of MIT EECS Visit Days 2025, MTL, MIT.nano and MIT EECS, hosted accepted PhD Students to a Material, Devices and Everything Microelectronics Dinner. The event offered students the opportunity to connect with our faculty and research group members, as well as explore the MIT.nano facilities! We look forward to seeing you in the fall! View more photos here: https://lnkd.in/emEvAdjP

MIT physicists report the unexpected discovery of electrons forming crystalline structures in a material only billionths of a meter thick. The work adds to a gold mine of discoveries originating from the material, which the same team discovered about three years ago. In a?paper published Jan. 22 in?Nature, the team describes how electrons in devices made, in part, of the material can become solid, or form crystals, by changing the voltage applied to the devices when they are kept at a temperature similar to that of outer space. Under the same conditions, they also showed the emergence of two new electronic states that add to work they reported?last year?showing that electrons can split into fractions of themselves. The team also observed all of these phenomena using two slightly different “versions” of the material, one composed of five layers of atomically thin carbon; the other composed of four layers. This indicates “that there’s a family of materials where you can get this kind of behavior, which is exciting,” says Long Ju, an assistant professor in the MIT Department of Physics who led the work. Ju is also affiliated with MIT Materials Research Laboratory and Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. Referring to the material, known as rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, Ju says, “We found a gold mine, and every scoop is revealing something new.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eUtPdkZJ

Soroush Araei, an MIT EECS PhD student, received the prestigious Jack Kilby Outstanding Student Paper Award at the plenary session of the 2025 International Solid-State-Circuits Conference [ISSCC]. Congratulations, Soroush! https://lnkd.in/ghtgZNdk

We are excited to announce a collaboration with GlobalFoundries, a leading manufacturer of essential semiconductors, to jointly pursue advancements and innovations for enhancing the performance and?efficiency of critical #semiconductor technologies. “The collaboration between MIT MTL and GF exemplifies the power of academia-industry cooperation in tackling the most pressing challenges in semiconductor research,” says Tomas Palacios, MTL director and the Clarence J. LeBel Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Palacios will serve as the MIT faculty lead for this research initiative. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZeUNFNa

Big news! We’re teaming up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to push the boundaries of semiconductor research, accelerating progress in AI and next-gen applications. Through this collaboration, MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories and GF Labs will drive innovations in silicon photonics and ultra-low-power semiconductor platforms—unlocking more efficient, scalable solutions for data centers and intelligent edge devices. Learn more: https://loom.ly/r4Eolsc #Semiconductors #Innovation #Tech #MIT #GF #ShapeWhatsEssential

Eight researchers in the School of Engineering were recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2025. One of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, membership in the NAE is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, and education. https://lnkd.in/ebYrCjkh

The use of terahertz waves, which have shorter wavelengths and higher frequencies than radio waves, could enable faster data transmission, more precise medical imaging, and higher-resolution radar. But effectively generating terahertz waves using a semiconductor chip, which is essential for incorporation into electronic devices, is notoriously difficult. To overcome these limitations, MIT researchers developed a terahertz amplifier-multiplier system that achieves higher radiating power than existing devices without the need for silicon lenses. By affixing a thin, patterned sheet of material to the back of the chip and utilizing higher-power Intel transistors, the researchers produced a more efficient, yet scalable, chip-based terahertz wave generator. “To take full advantage of a terahertz wave source, we need it to be scalable. A terahertz array might have hundreds of chips, and there is no place to put silicon lenses because the chips are combined with such high density. We need a different package, and here we’ve demonstrated a promising approach that can be used for scalable, low-cost terahertz arrays,” says Jinchen Wang, a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and lead author of a paper on the terahertz?radiator. He is joined on the paper by EECS graduate students Daniel Sheen and Xibi Chen; Steven F Nagle, managing director of the T.J. Rodgers RLE Laboratory; and senior author Ruonan Han, an associate professor in EECS, who leads the Terahertz Integrated Electronics Group. The research will be presented at the IEEE International Solid-States Circuits Conference. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqUGXdcB

??? Exciting News! ?? Professor Kevin Chen and his pioneering Soft and Micro-Robotics Group was just featured on the Veritasium podcast! Dive into the future of robotics with us. ?? Check out the episode to explore groundbreaking innovations! #Robotics #Veritasium #Innovation #TechTalks https://bit.ly/3EbPxy9

To help break down barriers to space research, MIT engineers have demonstrated the first fully 3D-printed, droplet-emitting electrospray engine. Their device, which can be produced rapidly and for a fraction of the cost of traditional thrusters, uses commercially accessible 3D printing materials and techniques. The devices could even be fully made in orbit, as 3D printing is compatible with in-space manufacturing. By developing a modular process that combines two 3D printing methods, the researchers overcame the challenges involved in fabricating a complex device comprised of macroscale and microscale components that must work together seamlessly. “Using semiconductor manufacturing doesn’t match up with the idea of low-cost access to space. We want to democratize space hardware. In this work, we are proposing a way to make high-performance hardware with manufacturing techniques that are available to more players,” says Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and senior author of a paper describing the thrusters, which?appears in?Advanced Science. He is joined on the paper by lead author Hyeonseok Kim, an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ecHKXAx2

Physicists at MIT and Harvard University have now directly measured superfluid stiffness for the first time in “magic-angle” graphene — materials that are made from two or more atomically thin sheets of?graphene twisted with respect to each other at just the right angle to enable a host of exceptional properties, including unconventional superconductivity. This superconductivity makes magic-angle graphene a promising building block for future quantum-computing devices, but exactly how the material superconducts is not well-understood. Knowing the material’s superfluid stiffness will help scientists identify the mechanism of superconductivity in magic-angle graphene. The team’s measurements suggest that magic-angle graphene’s superconductivity is primarily governed by quantum geometry, which refers to the conceptual “shape” of quantum states that can exist in a given material. The results, which are?reported today in the journal?Nature, represent the first time scientists have directly measured superfluid stiffness in a two-dimensional material. To do so, the team developed a new experimental method which can now be used to make similar measurements of other two-dimensional superconducting materials. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gYBAPtzc