On January 10, Gyeonggi Province announced the start of the “2024 Winter Semiconductor Physical Properties Analysis Specialist Course” to train professionals for the semiconductor industry.

This course will be jointly undertaken by the Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology (hereinafter referred to as AICT), Kyungpook National University, and semiconductor equipment manufacturers. It runs for a total of eight weeks from January 2 to February 23 for six students from the School of Electronic Engineering at Kyungpook National University, the institution that hosts the Gyeonggi Semiconductor Sharing University.

This winter course is an extension of the semiconductor property analysis summer course, which was piloted for eight weeks last July. It will provide students with theoretical and practical training on expensive deposition process and analytical devices that are difficult to access in most schools.

In addition to hands-on training on X-ray diffractometers (XRD) and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) during the summer course, theoretical and practical courses on thin film fabrication equipment and device analysis equipment were added, and the number of participating companies increased from two to five.

Six students were selected from among those who completed basic training in thin film deposition and semiconductor device analysis at Kyungpook National University. They will receive theoretical and practical training on thin film fabrication equipment, semiconductor thin film analysis equipment, and semiconductor device analysis equipment.

The thin-film manufacturing course will be taught by semiconductor equipment manufacturers Infovion and H&Iruza; it will provide training on deposition and post-heat treatment using process apparatus such as magnetron sputtering.

The semiconductor thin film analysis training will be provided by Thermofisher Scientific Korea and Bruker Korea, which will provide theoretical and practical training on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using scanning electron microscopes and X-ray diffractometers. The semiconductor device analysis training will be provided by domestic partner company Keysight Instruments, which will provide training on electrical characterization of semiconductor devices.

Students who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate jointly issued by the AICT, Kyungpook National University, and the participating companies through a prescribed practical evaluation.

Song Eun-sil, Director of the Semiconductor Industry Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, “I hope that this semiconductor specialist course will give students the opportunity to develop the work skills they need in corporate practice… We will continue to promote public semiconductor education courses through industry-academia-government cooperation.”