My work within Umicore’s Electro-optic Materials unit focusses on improving our product and processes to ensure our market leader position for germanium substrates. This work involves:• Minimizing/removing defects from the processes by using problem solving methodologies like Six Sigma.• Focussing on cost control and cost cutting by making the processes more lean and reducing waste.• Developing new processes and introducing state-of-the-art technology to stay ahead of the competition.• Managing a 2.5M ESA funded project to make sure a European wafer supplier can stay competitive in the space business.• Establishing good cooperation between the R&D team and production.• Providing support for production and backup for operational management, for both day-to-day issues as well as long term budgetary planning.• Handling issues occurring at customer side.

Working on the lithography development (DUV, 193i and EUV) needs for the memory programs (3D nand flash, stt-mram, sot-mram and 3D mimcap). This consists outs of:• Brainstorming from idea to well-thought-out process flow.• Reflectivity simulations.• Implementing state-of-the-art processes from research into functional devices or useful material.• Process window analysis.• Study the impact of wafer bow/warp on process results (overlay, CDU…).• Optimizing processes.• Transfer and support of finished processes to the production line. Next to this I am an active contributor to cycle time improvements and optimization of the general way of working.20% of my time went to developing and supporting wafer service projects, where we deliver wafers based on specific requests from costumers on a recurring basis. Here I check feasibility and provide input on what we can deliver to our customers.

50% of the job entails solving problems occurring in the production line, providing support for operations and coordinating with both shift responsibles and service engineers. This includes improving operational excellence by root cause analysis on reworks, errors, FEMs... as well as giving training to operators. The other 50% is process development concerning specialized coatings (resists, protection coatings, charging layer material…) and lithography (I-line, DUV and 193i) for biotech, battery and MIMCAP applications.

Thesis subject: "Deposition and characterization of Al2O3 thin films on Si for the growth of carbon nanotubes".

Thesis subject: "Optimization of the Ta2O5 and TaSiOx atomic layer deposition process" Experience in a 300mm cleanroom.