4/3/2013 Jamal Collier, ECE ILLINOIS
Written by Jamal Collier, ECE ILLINOIS
ECE Professor Joseph W Lyding will spend some time in Long Beach, California, in October. That’s where he will receive the 2013 Nanotechnology Recognition Award from the American Vacuum Society Nanometer-Scale Science and Technology Division for his contributions in the field of scanning probe microscopy.
Lyding, a researcher in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, has been an active member of AVS NSTD for more than two decades, and he has served as a member of the group’s executive committee.
“Joe Lyding has made outstanding contributions to the field of scanning tunneling microscopy and manipulation of surfaces, including the demonstration of the giant deuterium isotope effect in hydrogen desorption from silicon and the translation of its use to the reduction of the hot-carrier degradation effect in silicon CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology,” said Northwestern University Professor Mark Hersam, who was a member of the committee that selected Lyding for this recognition.
According to the NSTD website, the award was established to "recognize members of NSTD for outstanding scientific and technical contributions in the science of nanometer-scale structures, technology transfer involving nanometer-scale structures, and/or the promotion and dissemination of knowledge and development in these areas."
“It’s exciting and an honor,” Lyding said. “I know so many people in AVS and in the nanotechnology science and technology division, and I have tremendous respect for these people. To be recognized by them is quite an honor.”
Lyding’s research focuses on a wide range of areas in the field of nanotechnology, including developing ultra-sharp scanning tunneling and atomic force microscope probes. Lyding is responsible for the breakthrough technique that enables the patterning of hydrogenated silicon surfaces down to atomic resolution, and for discovering the giant deuterium isotope effect in his studies of deuterated silicon. His silicon patterning technique is currently used worldwide by many research groups. In collaboration with ECE Professor Emeritus Karl Hess, Lyding realized that the deuterium isotope effect could be translated to transistor technology to make the transistors in laptops and smartphones more robust. This technology was licensed to Samsung in 2010 for use in their advanced CMOS technologies.
Lyding said he always has the goal of figuring out what his research can be used for in practice. His work has been picked up and used by companies such as Samsung, and in 2011 he co-founded Tiptek, LLC, to market the scanned probe microscope tip technology that he invented. Lyding also received the 2012 IEEE Pioneer in Nanotechnology Award this past August.
Before receiving the Nanotechnology Recognition Award in October, he will give a lecture at a reception at the AVS International Symposium.
“Long Beach at the end of October—I’m not complaining,” Lyding said with a laugh.