Here is how we are improving computer chips

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Paras Prasad and Jonathan Bird are leading a team of researchers on a $7.5 million Department of Defense project to develop new concepts for precision testing of semiconductor chips.

This MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) project includes a consortium of institutions: UB, Columbia University, Boston University, the University of Maryland, the University of Arizona, the University of Central Florida, the National University of Singapore and the University of Cambridge.

“The MURI award supports a variety of studies, including several that aim to exploit the power of quantum science and engineering...Monitoring heat generation, using advanced microscopy to study circuits, and detecting ultra-weak electric and magnetic signals around chips are among many areas of interest,” says Prasad, the project's principal investigator. 

“This $7.5M award is the largest in the history of the Department and cements strategic investments that the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has made in nanoelectronics and quantum technology in recent years. The impact on our research and education programs is hard to overstate,” says Bird, co-principal investigator on the project.

In addition to Prasad and Bird, the UB research team includes:

  • Alexander Baev, research associate professor, Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics
  • Andrey Kuzmin, senior research scientist, Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics
  • Vasili Perebeinos, professor of electrical engineering
  • Mark Swihart, SUNY Distinguished Professor and chair of chemical and biological engineering
  • Luis Velarde, associate professor of chemistry
  • Hao Zeng, professor of physics
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Paras Prasad.
Lead Researcher:

Paras Prasad, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Departments of Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, and Medicine, and executive director of UB’s Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics

Co-principal investigator:

Jonathan Bird, Professor and Chair, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences