Next-generation Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Intelligence for Smart Machine Fields Selected

Samsung Electronics has announced the selection of a total of 21 designated theme support projects for 2017 supported by the 2017 Future Technology Development Center.

Samsung Electronics' "Designated Theme Project Recruitment," which began in 2014 as part of the Future Technology Development Initiative, is being implemented to designate nationally necessary future technology fields and support research in those fields.

This year, two fields were selected: ▲ Next-generation semiconductor materials and devices ▲ Intelligence for Smart Machine.

In the next-generation semiconductor materials and devices field, 12 projects were selected, including a project to implement "low-temperature process hafnia ferroelectric tunnel junction for nonvolatile logic" to overcome the limitations of semiconductor integration (Professor Jeon Sang-hun, Sejong Campus, Korea University), and in the Intelligence field, 9 projects were selected, including a project for "memory-centric accelerator architecture to enhance deep learning training and inference" (Professor Yoo Min-soo, POSTECH).

Professor Kim Hyung-jun of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, chair of the semiconductor field review committee, stated, "There were many project proposals across diverse fields in semiconductors including materials, devices, processes, analysis, and simulation," and added, "This designated theme is expected to contribute to the discovery of new semiconductor researchers in Korea and the spread of creative research culture, thereby promoting research vitalization in the semiconductor field."

Samsung Electronics has been operating the Future Technology Development Initiative, contributing a total of 1.5 trillion won over 10 years from 2013 to support the development of national future science and technology in three major fields—basic science, materials, and ICT—as well as emerging and future technology fields.

As part of this initiative, "open recruitment support projects" in the fields of basic science, materials, and ICT are selected twice a year in the first and second half. The results of the 2017 second-half support project selection are scheduled to be announced on September 28.