Rehan Younas, who recently completed his doctorate in electrical engineering at the University of Notre Dame, has won the 2023 Nicollian Award for Best Student Presentation of the 54th IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC). The award was announced in April of this year.
SISC brings together device engineers, solid-state physicists, and materials scientists to discuss semiconductor/insulator interfaces, the physics of insulating thin films, and the interaction among materials science, device physics, and state-of-the-art technology.
Younas’ award-winning presentation was titled “Ferromagnetism in Tungsten Diselenide and the Role of Selenium Vacancies.” His presented research focuses on the creation of a room-temperature atomically thin magnet that could be used for low-power memory devices.
“Silicon has been the backbone of the electronics industry, but its limitations are becoming increasingly apparent,” said Younas. “My research investigates the incorporation of magnetic atoms in otherwise non-magnetic materials to create memory devices that are faster, denser, and more energy-efficient.”
Younas successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation on March 28, 2024, under the supervision of Christopher Hinkle, the Leonard C. Bettex Professor of Electrical Engineering. He has accepted a position with Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho, where he will work on their NAND flash memory technology.
— Karla Cruise, Notre Dame Engineering