There is probably no other field that is as scientifically challenging as the field of semiconductor research and development, as it is driven by the constant need for making technology more powerful, portable, and pervasive !
Shan Kutagulla, our next pathbreaker, Process Engineer at Lam Research (California), works on Atomic Layer Deposition Research in Direct Metal Barrier layers.
Shan talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about his journey in the world of semiconductors, from working in Foundries to his current role in Process Development .
For students, get your basics in place. Your foundations will take you much farther in your career !
Shan, can you share your background with our young readers?
I grew up in the Bay Area, but always liked hardware more than software growing up, and had an interest in economics.
What did you do for graduation/post graduation?
I received my bachelors and masters at the University of Southern California in Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering respectively. I briefly left to go work at Samsung, and decided I wanted to do more R&D and explore the energy field and left to get a PhD (Material Sciences) at the University of Texas at Austin.
I have always enjoyed the challenges of the semiconductor industry- I explored energy for a while in grad school, but most of my background has been in chip fabrication in logic. After my masters, I worked one year at Samsung’s fab in Austin in process integration, and after my PhD I went to work for Lam Research. I stayed in touch with my energy interests by becoming a venture partner at a London based VC firm called Transition, where I help the team assess new startups in cleantech.
Can you talk about some of the key influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional, and unique career in Semiconductors?
I took chemical engineering because at the time I felt it was the thing that blended all my interests the best. Chemistry and Physics helped me understand the world, while the plant economics side scratched the economics itch. I felt no other discipline gives you such a holistic understanding of micro and macro scale effects.
I don’t know if there was a single influence in my life – my parents are engineers, so I knew I wanted to do some kind of engineering. I knew I didn’t like software (even though I can code in Python and Java, I didn’t see the impact of making yet another streaming platform vs developing and applying new physics).
Semiconductors also allowed me to not live in areas where other materials scientists and chemical engineers tended to work such as upstream oil and gas. I get to live in major cities, which is a big plus for work life balance. Lastly, I think there is no other field that has the scientific challenges of semiconductors. I work with physicists, chemists, computational folks and business folks, all equally important to the development of the next node/next process/next module. I think it is very rare to find an industry where you can touch so many parts of a business.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Tell us about your career path
I had the benefit of getting into research in undergrad and had mentors that lightly pushed me into research. I ended up adding the masters degree as I had taken many of the required courses already and finished it with some research.
I applied to a bunch of companies for my first internship (I had been working in an ultrafast spectroscopy lab), and chose a medium sized company called JSR Micro in my sophomore year. I helped characterize photoresists for the 7 and 5 nm nodes, and broke into the industry. I didn’t think I’d pursue a research career at the time- I was more focused on consulting or something in business, but it was fun and I enjoyed the exploratory work.
JSR develops photoresists for patterning silicon- it’s the pattern of the circuitry and electrical wiring that we have to make at scale with photoactive materials.
Later that year, I published my first paper in Faraday Discussions, and landed an internship at Samsung that I had applied to- a recruiter called me due to the research paper on my resume and I was the only non Texan chosen for the internship class. I worked there on metal depositions with physical vapor deposition (RF Magnetron sputtering, some economic analyses). I returned to JSR again the year after and did more computational work (COVID) and took a full-time job at Samsung the year after.
At Samsung, I worked in their foundry- we made chips for other customers (think Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and companies that contract out their chips). I worked on the process integration side of that.
While I enjoyed the work at Samsung, it was a manufacturing plant and I missed contributing to science, R&D and developing patents. I therefore went to the University of Texas at Austin and did my PhD on 2D materials for energy and semiconductor applications.
My PhD was on the use of 2D nanomaterials to enhance fuel cell membrane performance, but I published across multiple fields including semiconductors energy and one biotech paper.
After my PhD, I took a job at Lam Research in process development.
How did you get your first break?
Dumb luck- JSR Micro gave me a shot and I made the most of it. Just applied online. That being said, I worked in research labs and had a paper written before then.
My Samsung job was due to my internship there before!
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
The biggest challenge was getting the first internship, the JSR call did not come until May 4th , and they wanted me to start on May 16th. Other challenges are fun challenges- research didn’t work, orders didn’t come and held up experiments, but that’s just part of the job.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I currently work as a Process Engineer at Lam Research. I work on Atomic Layer Deposition research in direct metal barrier layers
We sell processes and equipment to chip foundries and manufacturers, so think Samsung, Hynix, Micron, Intel etc. Anyone who is making physical chips, we supply.
I also work as a Venture Partner. I get to talk to founders in energy and help support and sometimes fund their ventures. I assess the viability of their companies and provide investment guidance with a scientific perspective.
What skills are needed for your role? How did you acquire the skills?
Research skills, surface chemistry, mostly from my PhD
What’s a typical day like?
No 2 days are the same, but in general experimental work, putting together decks for the customer and presenting that data to make process or hardware changes
What is it you love about this job?
The research style work that still combines some business impact and economics (how much extra does it cost to own this process and tool?).
How does your work benefit society?
We help drive everything starting from fundamental science- we drive productivity, AI and every single communications device that exists today.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
I demonstrated the first instance of proton conduction in a material known as MoS2. This was after 2 years of work and we kept seeing this effect, so we wrote a paper on the phenomenon and other 2D materials too.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Just study hard, look at chemistry and physics classes. Take every opportunity you can get.
Future Plans?
I haven’t decided- anything and everything is an option. Definitely might look at startups next if one catches my eye.