Dennis L. Polla
Professor
Presidential Young Investigator

S.B. 1979, EE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.B., 1980, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.M., 1980, EE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
E.E., 1981, EE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D., 1985, EE, University of California, Berkeley
MBA, 1986, Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley

Telephone: (612) 625-4873
E-mail: polla@ece.umn.edu
Web Page: http://www.ece.umn.edu/users/polla/


Associate Editor, J. of Micromechanics and Microengineering, IBM Faculty Dev. Award


My research interests include the design, materials growth, and fabrication of integrated microsensors and microactuators. My students and I are researching new integrated circuit processing techniques for the fabrication of physical and/or chemical sensors and for implementing micro-electro-mechanical motion concepts on a silicon chip. Some representative devices currently being studied include solid-state accelerometers, pressure sensors, infrared detectors, micromechanical logic devices, valves, pumps, and sub-micrometer positioners.

Another research area involves research in advanced integrated circuit technologies (high-performance CMOS and BiCMOS). This research focuses on new materials, device physics, process integration, and analog systems design.


Selected Publications

"Contactless Optical Evaluation of Processing Effects on Carrier Lifetime in Silicon", with P.F. Baude and T. Tamagawa, Appl. Phys. Lett., 1991.

"Reactive Ion Etching of Sputtered Zinc Oxide", with G. Swanson and T. Tamagawa, J. Electrochem. Soc., 137, pp. 2982-2984, 1990.

"A Linear Piezoelectric Stepper Motor" with J. Judy and W.P. Robbins, IEEE Trans. on Ultrason., Ferroelect., and Freq. Control, UFFC-37, pp. 428-437, 1990.

"Pyroelectric Properties and Applications of Sputtered ZnO Thin Films", with R.M. White and R.S. Muller, Microsensors, IEEE Press, 1990.

"Lead Zirconate Taitanate (PZT) Thin Films in Surface-Micromachined Sensor Structures", with T.Tamagawa and C.C. Hsueh, IEEE Int. Electron Dev. Mtg., San Francisco, Dec. 1990.

"GaAs Integrated Microsensors", with T.Tamagawa and J.R. Choi, IEEE Int. Symp. on Circuits and Systems, New Orleans, 1990 (invited).

"Micromechanical Logic", with P.Bergstrom and T.Tamagawa, IEEE Int. Electron Dev. Mtg., Washington, D.C. 1989.

"Integration of Surface-Micromachined Zinc Oxide Sensors in n-Well CMOS Technology", with K. Voros, H. Yoon and T.Tamagawa, IEEE Int. Electron Dev. Mtg, 1989.

"Integrated Multi-Sensor Chip", with R.M. White and R.S. Muller, IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., EDL-7, pp. 254-256, 1986.