Digital Twins for the Fabrication of Superconducting Through Silicon Vias
Supervisor: Dr Luiz Felipe Aguinsky
Industry Partner: Oxford Instruments Plasma Technologies (OIPT)
School: Engineering
Description:
As quantum computing is nearing the threshold of quantum advantage, there has been a heightened demand for systems with even more qubits. To enable a truly scalable quantum computing platform, researchers at the University of Glasgow and Oxford Instruments Plasma Technologies have recently proposed a set of novel plasma processes for superconducting through silicon vias (TSVs) which have the potential to enable three-dimensional integration of quantum devices.
However, to effectively bring these processes to their full potential, it is necessary to establish a deeper control over the TSV geometry from the involved process parameters. To that end, process simulation is an invaluable tool, bringing physical insight to the dynamics of the fabrication process which are not easily accessible from the experiment. That is, a Digital Twin of the fabrication process is needed to enable the next-generation of this technology.
In this research project, the EPSRC research intern will advance the state-of-the-art by implementing Digital Twins of key fabrication steps using the open-source process simulation tool ViennaPS, benefitting from the expertise of the primary supervisor. The intern will also have direct access to the fabrication data from the industry partner which will serve as calibration and validation targets. With a calibrated Digital Twin, the intern will then feed-forward actionable insight for the continuous development of these technologies.
