Baopu (Bob) Zhang

Baopu (Bob) Zhang is a PhD candidate in chemical engineering whose research seeks to develop innovative approaches in microchip fabrication to meet rapidly growing demands for enhanced computation performance and energy efficiency. Block copolymer (BCP) directed phase separation (DPS), or the utilizing of guiding templates to direct BCP phase separation, is a promising technique for large-scale and cost-effective microchip fabrication. To date, most work in this area has been in two dimensions. Supported by a MathWorks Fellowship, Bob will utilize his expertise in polymer physics and microelectronics to study this BCP DPS and the feasibility of a three-dimensional (3D) approach. Using MATLAB, Bob plans to develop an efficient optimization algorithm to identify the optimal guiding template configuration for 3D target BCP patterns. This new model will be beneficial for accelerating guiding template design and screening for complex 3D target patterns and could help to realize the potential of BCP DPS for 3D microchip fabrication. Bob’s research has the potential to offer vital new knowledge and applications that address the need for rapid, efficient, and economical computing capabilities.