The MICRO- AND NANO-ELECTRONICS GROUP at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia includes researchers working in the electronics field at device/technology, circuit, and system level. The Group is based on two different Departments, namely the Department of Engineering "Enzo Ferrari" (DIEF) and the Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI).

Research in the MICRO- AND NANO-ELECTRONICS GROUP is carried out with focus on following topics:
 

• Advanced non-volatile memories and logic transistors: experimental characterization and physical modeling of state-of-the-art and emerging Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) devices (TANOS, PCM, RRAM); mechanisms governing the operation and reliability of NVM devices; charge transport and degradation in high-k stacks for both logic and non-volatile memory applications.
• Compound-semiconductor field-effect transistors for power RF, power switching and for sub-11-nm CMOS digital circuits:   characterization,  reliability investigation, and numerical simulation of compound-semiconductor-based HEMTs;  development of high-voltage GaAs  and InP PHEMTs exploiting optimized field-plate structures; characterization of DC-to-RF dispersion effects,  deep level transient spectroscopy, load-pull RF power measurements, and small-signal characterization of GaAs and GaN HEMTs and MMICs; parasitic effects and statistical variablity analysis in InGaAs MOSFETs with high-k dielectrics.
• Design of RF integrated circuits: design and characterization of integrated circuits for wired and wireless telecommunications systems; Class-E power amplifiers realized in CMOS technology and operating at RF and mm-wave frequencies.
• Energy harvesting circuits and systems: design and characterization of energy harvesting circuits and systems from different renewable sources (solar energy, vibration, EM field, etc) using different technology for low power applications (i.e. Wireless Sensor Network nodes); characterization and modeling of MEMS piezoelectric transducers for vibration energy harvesting; design of WSN nodes powered by exploiting energy harvester circuits.
• Semiconductor technologies and devices for optoelectronics applications:  CMOS silicon optical sensors for time-resolved imaging applications, like time-of-flight 3D cameras and FLIM (Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy); GaN-based LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). These activities are carried on in collaboration  with OPTOLAB, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
• Modeling, simulation and characterization of nanobiosensors:  this research line investigates electronic nanobiosensors based on impedance spectroscopy and ion sensing transduction mechanisms suitable for the implementation of massively parallel imagers in CMOS technology. Commercial and in-house simulation tools and models are developed to predict electrical signals generated by analytes and to design optimized sensing elements. An experimental high frequency impedance spectroscopy CMOS platform is available for experimentation in dry and liquid environments.