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History

Laboratorio MDM (Materials and Devices for Microelectronics) was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of INFM (National Institute for the Physics of Matter) and STMicroelectronics with the mission of conducting research in condensed matter physics relevant for microelectronic device science and technology.

 

In 2005 MDM entered the National Research Council (CNR) as a consequence of the Dlgs 127/03 that ratified the merging of INFM into CNR.

In 2010 it became one of the Units of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, while essentially retaining the original mission and course.

 

Since its foundation, the laboratory and offices have been hosted in the R&D site of STMicroelectronics, located in Agrate Brianza (nearby Milan), thus promoting a permanent and fertile link between researchers involved in applied/industrial activities and solid-state scientists dedicated to more fundamental studies.

 

With the financial support of INFM and ST, as well as of national and european research projects, in few years MDM was equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for the characterization of the structural, electrical, optical and magnetic properties of thin films and devices; characterization protocols and techniques were developed for addressing the always decreasing dimensionality of materials used in modern micro- and nanoelectronic devices. 

 

With the installation of one of the first Atomic Layer Deposition systems in Italy (ASM F-120) in 2000, the capabilities related to the growth and functionalization of  advanced materials (high dielectric constant oxides, magnetic thin films, ....) were greatly boosted. In the following years, the growth facilites were extended to include a Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system with in situ UHV SPM and XPS, a Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition system (MOCVD) dedicated to chalcogenide materials, a second ALD for 8" wafer growth, and a in-house developed CVD-ALD system for magnetic and spintronic materials.

 

Fabrication and process equipment, as well as nanostructuring techniques complete the laboratory facilities that, together with computational resources, allow a multi-faceted approach to the reasearch topics.

 

Several research scientists with complementary background, including experimental and theoretical condensed matter physicists, material chemists and engineers, joined the laboratory over the years and many young scientists and students were trained on topics relevant for both research and industrial careers. 

 

In its 20 years history, MDM extensively contributed to EU Framework Programme FP5 (ESQUI, ESRQC, INVEST, NEON), FP6 (EMMA, ET4US, REALISE, TCAMMD, VERSATILE), and FP7 (2D-NANOLATTICE, AFSID, GOSSAMER, MAGWIRE, NANOPV, RAMP, SYNAPSE) as well as to other European and National Research Programs funded by ASI, INFM, CNR, MIUR, MAE, Ministero della Difesa, and Fondazione Cariplo.

Current H2020, ECSEL and other projects are described here.

Former Directors

1996-1998 Prof. Alessandro Borghesi, Università di Milano Bicocca

1998-2015 Prof. Marco Fanciulli, Università di Milano Bicocca