Asif Islam Khan Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

STATEMENT OF PURPOSEof Asif Islam Khan (Ph.D. Applicant for Fall 2008 Quarter)

My purpose of applying at the PhD program of the Department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering at Cornell U. stems from the fact that the state-of-the-art researches done here onnanotechnologies, especially on nano-photonics and -electronics are closely aligned with my researchinterests and some of my research experiences.

My interest in quantum mechanics instilled in me a profound intellectual curiosity for themysteries of Nature at the nanoscale since secondary school. And through the course of my un-dergraduate training as an electrical engineering at Bangladesh U. of Engineering and Technology,the most reputed and highest ranked engineering university in the country, I got a good researchexposure to the art of engineering the Nature at the nanoscale that motivates me to pursue mygraduate studies in nano-science and -technology. In my 3rd year, I along with one friend developeda non-equilibrium Green function (NEGF) based Schrodinger-Poisson solver for 1-D nanostructureswhich gave me my maiden insight into quantum phenomena at the nanoscale. Our self-motivatedresearch on effects of wave function penetration into gate oxide on electron distribution in nanoscaledouble gate (DG) MOSFETs won us the 1st prize in IEEE R-10 UG Student Paper Contest 06.As I started my 4th year research on computational nanoelectronics under Prof. Anisul Haque,my first challenge was to find a suitable topic that was technologically important and tractableunder my intellectual capability and knowledge base as an undergraduate student and our limitedcomputation resources. Having surveyed Intl Roadmap for Semiconductors 05 and literature ondevice modeling and scaling issues and emerging devices, I found that, although effects of wavefunction penetration into gate oxide on different parameters (gate capacitance, drain current) havebeen examined for bulk MOSFETs, such analyses have always been done using 1-D models andhence have neglected 2-D effects, such as DIBL, which become extremely important with devicescaling. Hence, we decided pursue a systematic study of how wave function penetration effects onballistic drain current in nanoscale double gate MOSFETs evolve with the scaling of dimensions(gate length and silicon body thickness) using a 2-D quantum device model. For this research, Imastered some of the most advanced concepts in quantum transport through Dattas seminal textQuantum Transport: Atom to Transistor on my own with hands-on modeling experience throughMATLAB coding. I incorporated a NEGF based, unconventional and accurate technique to applyopen boundary condition at the gate-oxide interface in the solution of the 2-D Schrodinger equationin the simulation scheme. It is satisfying to mention that submission of our manuscript to J. Appl.Phys. is in the offing and we would be the first to demonstrate and explain the relation betweendevice scaling and wave function penetration effects on ballistic drain current when published. Ialso participated in an interdisciplinary quantum logic research and reported for the first time inliterature ion trap realizable ternary quantum version of some reversible logic circuits, includingFredkin gate in the IEEE 37th Intl Symp. Multiple Valued Logic 08 (ISMVL2008). As a recog-nition of our groups research, I have recently been selected as a reviewer of the multiple-valuedquantum logic track for ISMVL 2008 to be held at Texas in May 08. Through my research involve-ments, I got an excellent training on the art of scientific research - the art of explaining numericalresults not as mathematical or programming artifacts, rather as physical phenomena, the art ofscientific writing relying less on equations and using concepts accessible to intended audience, andon exercising analytical ability, adherence and intellectual integrity. And with this exposure, I amconfidence to be able to handle the rigor of graduate level research.

Through my IEEE activities I got a training on management, leadership and interpersonal skills.I served IEEE BUET Student Branch (SB) as the Secretary during 04-05 and as the Chair during05-07. I was the brainchild of two new activities, IEEE BUET SB Paper Contest 06 and IEEEXtreme Programming Contest, 06. Both of these activities upheld our SB in the internationalarena; out of the 3 papers from our branch 2 (including 1 of mine) won the top 2 prizes in IEEE

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Asif Islam Khan Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

R-10 Student Paper Contest 06 and one BUET team, x33d was placed 9th in the programmingcontest, making our branch the only one in R-10 to secure a place in the top 10. As a recognitionof the concerted effort of all the IEEE volunteers under my leadership, the plant tours of ourSB was featured by The Institute, the newspaper of IEEE, in Editor Kathy Kowalenkos articleOrganizing tours to technical facilities in the Dec. 05 issue. Having to manage such diverse rangeof academic and leadership activities, I groomed into myself excellent personal management skillslike time management, perseverance and punctuality. In view of such experiences, I feel that I willbe able to adapt into cooperative milieu of the graduate research and also fit into leadership rolesin research and in my career.

Having read some of the papers of Cornell Nanophotonics Group and having conceived thescope and tremendous impact of their research, especially that of the recent seminal work on Sibased all-optical on-chip switching devices, I can firmly say that my interests are closely alignedwith this groups research. I have developed a strong foundation in electromagnetism throughUG courses Electromagnetic Fields and Waves and Microwave Engineering and graduate courseMicrowave Theory and Techniques and self motivated reading of Feynman lectures of Physics,vol. II. I find my background on electromagnetism and quantum theory of solids are also strongenough to understand the basic principles of nanophotonic structures. My computational modelingskills that I developed for nanoelectronic device modeling and current research involvement inevolutionary/genetic algorithm for automated design of multivalued quantum logic circuits canalso be effective for theoretical predictions and design of novel nanostructured photonic devices.This groups research on all optical switching, plasmonic structures, photonic structure design andbio-sensing are of my particular interests. Prof. Tiwaris research on nanoscale electronics andcompound and heterostructure electronic devices is also parallel with my interests and my researchexpertise too. Besides, research of Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Quantum Optics Groupis also of my interest. Having maintained excellence in academic and research credentials andleadership activities1 in my undergraduate level, I am confident that I would also be able to excelin the graduate research at Cornell University.

It was not until I attended the nanomaterial workshop at the Abdus Salam Intl Center forTheoretical Physics that, I could perceive the diverseness of nanotechnologies and its distinctnessfrom other promising fields like astrophysics, neuroscience in its impact on society. As I am guidingseveral students on quantum logic research and saw my 2nd year students grasping eagerly andproactively ideas of Moores law, nanomachines, top-down and bottom-up in their first electronicscourse with me, I feel I have an innate ability to convey basic and new concepts and motivatestudents to explore and research. I believe, being a professor of nano-science in a research university,I can further Feynmans vision not only by advancing the state of the art nanotechnology, butalso by illuminating new avenues of thought for my students. Through my detour research onengineering history and socio-technology that won the 2nd prize in IEEE History Paper Contest04 and IEEE Enterprise Award 06 respectively, I could perceive social implications of technology.Having mingled with the best minds of the South Asia from backgrounds as diverse as from finearts to engineering at the 1st SAARC University Students Exchange Program at Delhi in Dec.07, I could understand how people from other disciplines view the role of technology in shapingsocietys future and I could perceive why it is necessary to guide technological developments tofulfill societys expectations. As the future of nanotechnology has inspired as much caution asoptimism, I intend also to utilize my expertise into policy issues to safeguard its advancementtowards a direction that is peaceful and addresses some of the most intriguing problems of oursociety. Graduate study in ECE at Cornell U. with its strength in nano-research and long heldreputation for producing veritable leaders in the science and technology arena will give me theperfect opportunity to advance towards my career goal.

1My resume with a complete list of awards and publications is avaiable athttp://teacher.buet.ac.bd/aikhan/cv.pdf.

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