Sogang Undergraduates in the Cleanroom

Sogang University's Semiconductor Specialization Program (ELITE) has introduced a new undergraduate course — "Semiconductor Device Fabrication" — offered jointly through the Departments of Electronic Engineering and System Semiconductor Engineering. The course moves well beyond process observation or equipment familiarization: each student individually designs, fabricates, and measures a silicon-based MOSFET device through a full CMOS process sequence carried out in a cleanroom.

The course enrolled 46 fourth-year undergraduates across 11 sections, supported by 6 faculty members and 11 teaching assistants. Of the participants, 40 are enrolled in the program's Next-Generation Semiconductor major track or affiliated interdisciplinary track, making the course a direct extension of the ELITE curriculum's broader goal of producing industry-ready semiconductor engineers.

Students progressed through the major unit processes of semiconductor manufacturing in sequence: photolithography, wafer cleaning, thermal oxidation, diffusion, thin-film deposition, and metal electrode formation. Following fabrication, they measured I-V and C-V characteristics of their completed devices and analyzed device parameters — building quantitative understanding of how process variables translate into electrical behavior.

The course was designed to develop three capabilities that conventional lecture-based instruction cannot easily provide: the ability to reason about the gap between design intent and actual process outcomes; a manufacturing-aware design perspective that accounts for process variability; and an individual device portfolio that students can present in industry recruitment contexts.

One participant, a fourth-year Electronic Engineering student, described the course as the most significant asset in her job search preparation, noting that her experience troubleshooting a process recipe gave her concrete, differentiated material to discuss in a recruitment interview at a major semiconductor company.

Professor Jinwook Burm, Director of the Semiconductor Specialization Program, stated that the course is intended to move students beyond process exposure toward genuine competency in semiconductor design, fabrication, and analysis — and that the program will continue expanding field-based educational opportunities as part of its commitment to developing the next generation of industry-ready engineers.

The ELITE program operates from March 2024 through February 2028 with support from the Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), with a mandate to build practical semiconductor education infrastructure — including cleanroom facilities, design laboratories, industry-linked coursework, and global seminars — for Sogang undergraduates.