The “China Materials Conference 2021” Advanced Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Materials Sub-Forum was successfully held.

From July 8 to 11, 2021, the "China Materials Conference 2021" was grandly held at the Xiamen International Convention & Exhibition Center in Fujian Province. This conference, held at a pivotal moment marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the full launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, is a major event in the field of new materials—a gathering that represents the very forefront and highest level of materials science. The conference featured 51 sub-conferences and 3 parallel forums. The thematic areas covered cutting-edge research in fields such as energy materials, environmental materials, semiconductor materials, superconducting materials, polymer materials, high-performance fibers and their composites, high-temperature alloys, ultra-hard materials, biomedical materials, and smart materials. A total of 12,000 materials science and technology professionals and young scholars from across the country gathered to jointly explore the frontiers of academic development and spark brilliant intellectual exchanges.

The “Advanced Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Materials Sub-venue,” organized by the Integrated Circuit Materials Industry Technology Innovation Alliance and jointly supported by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Beijing Multi-Dimensional Electronic Materials Technology Development and Promotion Center, was held concurrently. Academician Wang Xi, Vice Governor of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, served as the Chair of the “Advanced Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Materials Sub-venue.” Academician Wang Zhengping from the Chinese University of Hong Kong served as the Honorary Chair of the sub-venue, while Academician Yang Deren from Zhejiang University, Dr. Lin Qinghuang from ASML, and Researcher Zhao Chao from the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly served as Vice Chairs of the sub-venue. At the invitation of Academician Wang Xi, Researcher Zhao Chao delivered the opening address on behalf of Academician Wang Xi. This “Advanced Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Materials Sub-venue” featured 1 keynote speech, 13 invited reports, 17 oral presentations, and 19 poster presentations. The number of participants exceeded 80, and the content of the presentations covered various fields within microelectronics and optoelectronics materials, including: novel storage materials such as MRAM, FRAM, PCRAM, and RRAM; substrate materials such as Ge, Si, SOI, GOI, and compound semiconductors; new display materials and other materials used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and optoelectronic devices; advanced packaging materials; carbon-based functional materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene; new two-dimensional materials like CN3; material testing technologies and methods; and material design theories and computational simulations.

Professor Yu Bin from Zhejiang University delivered a keynote speech titled “Applications of Two-Dimensional Materials in Post-Moore Electronics.” In his talk, Professor Yu reviewed the evolution of integrated circuits driven by Moore’s Law and argued that we have now entered the post-Moore era. He pointed out the limitations of silicon-based microelectronic materials and highlighted several potential applications of two-dimensional materials in post-Moore electronics. He also emphasized that heterogeneous integration and integrated design are becoming increasingly important.

Researcher Song Zhitang from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered an invited talk titled “High-Speed, Low-Power Phase-Change Storage Materials and Applications.” Researcher Song Zhitang argued that with the rapid advancement of 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and smart vehicles, data volumes are experiencing explosive growth, necessitating massive storage technologies and novel architectures to overcome the current “storage wall” problem. Among these, phase-change memory stands out as the most promising next-generation technology for massive storage. In his talk, Researcher Song Zhitang presented the team’s systematic research efforts over recent years in areas including the development of new phase-change materials, the mechanisms behind high-speed, reversible phase transitions in phase-change materials, new OTS selector transistor materials, process integration for phase-change memory, and the development of phase-change memory products.

Associate Professor Yang Yi from Tsinghua University delivered an invited talk titled “Nonvolatile Ferroelectric Memory Based on Hafnium-Based Materials.” Professor Yang argued that hafnium-based ferroelectric materials, compared to traditional ferroelectric materials, offer advantages such as CMOS-process compatibility and higher integration density, making them particularly well-suited for next-generation ferroelectric memory devices. FeFETs based on hafnium-based ferroelectric materials have already achieved a process node as low as 10 nm, enabling technologies such as Mbit-scale storage and 3D stacking. FeFETs utilizing hafnium-based ferroelectric materials hold great promise for advancement in emerging fields including novel memory architectures, in-memory computing, and neuromorphic computing.

Professor Hu Ping'an from Harbin Institute of Technology delivered an invited talk titled “Two-Dimensional Piezoelectric Materials and Flexible Devices.” Professor Hu Ping'an argued that two-dimensional piezoelectric materials exhibit outstanding optoelectronic properties and piezoelectric-optical coupling performance. Compared to conventional piezoelectric materials, they offer advantages such as flexibility, compatibility with CMOS processes, and ease of fabrication and integration, making them well-suited for novel self-powered optoelectronic detectors and flexible electronic skin devices. Based on the discovery of two-dimensional piezoelectric materials with co-aligned polarization in adjacent layers and the effective control of two-dimensional piezoelectric domains, high-performance self-powered optoelectronic detectors and highly sensitive electronic skin devices have been realized. Two-dimensional piezoelectric flexible devices hold great promise for development in fields such as low-power sensing, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

In his invited talk titled “New Material Challenges in Advanced Packaging,” Professor Yu Daquan from Xiamen University outlined the development trajectory of advanced packaging technologies. As integrated circuit applications become increasingly diversified, emerging fields are placing ever-higher demands on advanced packaging. Today, advanced packaging is increasingly becoming a crucial means of sustaining and extending Moore’s Law. High-density TSV technology and Fan-Out packaging technologies—thanks to their flexibility, high density, and suitability for system integration—have become the core technologies driving current advances in advanced packaging. Professor Yu believes that China’s integrated circuit packaging materials and technologies still lag significantly behind the international advanced level, with technological development remaining sluggish. To close this gap, it is essential to foster collaborative innovation among industry, academia, research institutions, and end-users, accelerate the pace of innovation, and reduce innovation costs. Collaborative innovation involving “packaging companies + equipment manufacturers + material suppliers + research institutions” is urgently needed. Such coordinated efforts must be organized to tackle the global technological challenges of the post-Moore era.

Professor Liu Ran from Fudan University delivered an invited talk titled “Micro- and Nanoscale Patterning and Device Array Fabrication Technologies for Organic Functional Materials Based on Selective Area Growth.” Addressing the shortcomings of traditional inorganic methods and existing organic approaches, Professor Liu’s team developed an in-situ monitoring device that integrates both vacuum and liquid-phase techniques. This innovative platform enables highly original and distinctive research on surface and interface control, and the team has employed a novel selective area growth method to fabricate micro- and nanoscale patterns and device arrays of organic functional materials. Professor Liu Ran noted that flexible electronics technology, with its unique bendability and stretchability, can give rise to smart packaging, wearable health-care products, and other applications, making it a key technology driving the widespread adoption and large-scale application of the Internet of Things.

In his invited talk titled “Recent Advances in Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Devices,” Professor Yu Hongyu from the Southern University of Science and Technology showcased his research group’s recent progress in the field of wide-bandgap semiconductor devices. He provided an overview of the development trends in GaN process technology, GaN product technology, international SiC product technology, and China’s domestic SiC product technology. Professor Yu argued that the international third-generation semiconductor industry, exemplified by GaN and SiC, has successfully transitioned from R&D to large-scale mass production thanks to the “four-wheel drive” of policy, capital, technology, and market, and has now entered a phase of rapid industrial development.

In his invited talk on “The Gate-Oxide Interface of Silicon Carbide,” Professor Guo Yuzheng from Wuhan University elucidated through computational studies the presence of a significant low-electron-density layer, SiOx, at the interface. He found that the Si-Si structural arrangement at the interface constitutes the primary defect structure in the transitional oxide layer, and that a small fraction of vacancy defects may also be present. During thermal oxidation of SiC, the formation of carbon defects at the interface is inevitable. Computational analysis revealed that carbon-carbon defects on the SiC side of the interface significantly impact the performance of n-channel MOSFETs. Therefore, the specific structural types of carbon defects and their effects on the interface warrant close attention. Professor Guo suggested that during interface passivation, simultaneously introducing both nitrogen- and boron-containing gases can further reduce defect states.

Associate Researcher Cai Yan from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered an invited talk titled “Advanced Packaging Technologies and Materials for Silicon-Based Optoelectronics.” In her presentation, Dr. Cai reviewed recent domestic and international advances in the field of co-packaging of optoelectronic devices on silicon substrates. She also introduced the latest developments of the silicon photonics integration research group at the Institute of Microsystem in the area of 2.5D/3D optoelectronic interconnects. The group has successfully demonstrated a silicon photonic active interposer chip based on TSV technology as well as a high-speed germanium detector chip fabricated through three-dimensional stacking. Dr. Cai believes that 2.5D/3D hybrid optoelectronic integration represents a key technology for addressing the challenges of power consumption, cost, and performance in future silicon photonic modules.

In addition, 17 teachers and students—including Chen Mengyu from Xiamen University, Shi Zhixia from Youyan Resource and Environmental Technology Research Institute (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and Bo Tiezhu from China National Building Materials Research Institute Co., Ltd.—delivered outstanding oral presentations, sharing their research findings.
　　Huang Yaru from East China Normal University received the Best Poster Award at the sub-conference. The presentations at this conference were truly outstanding, and the atmosphere in the venue was vibrant and enthusiastic. Attendees actively asked questions, and the participants had ample opportunities for exchange, which played a positive role in enhancing the academic level and technological innovation capabilities in China’s microelectronics and optoelectronics materials field.

Researcher Zhao Chao from the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences delivered the opening remarks for the sub-venue on behalf of Academician Wang Xi.

Professor Yu Bin from Zhejiang University delivered a keynote speech.

Researcher Song Zhitang from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered an invited report.

Associate Professor Yang Yi from Tsinghua University delivered an invited talk.

Professor Hu Ping'an from Harbin Institute of Technology delivered an invited talk.

Professor Yu Daquan from Xiamen University delivered an invited talk.

Professor Liu Ran from Fudan University delivered an invited talk.

Professor Yu Hongyu from the Southern University of Science and Technology delivered an invited talk.

Professor Zhang Feng from Xiamen University delivered an invited talk.

Researcher Ou Xin from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered an invited talk.

Professor Guo Yuzheng from Wuhan University delivered an invited talk.

Associate Researcher Cai Yan from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered an invited report.

Huang Yaru from East China Normal University won the Best Poster Award in the sub-association.

Venue photos