Prof.T.P. Ma: recipient of the “2014 Outstanding Alumnus Award” at the National Taiwan University (NTU)

November 3, 2014

T.P. Ma, the Raymond John Wean Professor of Electrical Engineering & Applied Physics, has been selected by National Taiwan University (NTU) to receive their 2014 Outstanding Alumnus Award. The award, which recognizes Ma’s significant contributions to the advancement of semiconductor technology, will be presented at NTU’s Anniversary Celebration on November 15, 2014.

Ma’s research and teaching at Yale have generally focused on microelectronics and semiconductors. A major thrust of Ma’s research has been the development of ultra-thin advanced gate dielectrics for semiconductor devices; dielectrics are a critical element of semiconductor chips and are ubiquitous throughout electronic devices today. Through R&D collaborations with numerous high-tech companies worldwide—including IBM, Intel, Motorola, and AMD—Ma’s research has proven fundamental to semiconductor technology innovation.

Additionally, Ma has made major contributions to a novel cell architecture for dynamic random access memory (DRAM)—the type of memory that’s used in your laptop or desktop computer, as well as in mobile devices—as well as flash EPROM memory devices. In these areas, Ma has consistently shown the advantages of alternative construction materials, such as ferroelectrics thin films and silicon nitride—a research focus that he has also applied to his more recent work on III-V semiconductors.