KUAS Engineering Master’s Student Receives the JSME 2022 Young Fellow Award

Daisuke Yasugi, a second-year master’s student at the KUAS Graduate School of Engineering and a member of the Nanomechatronics Laboratory (a lab that specializes in nanomechanics, nanotechnology, and functional materials, directed by Dr. Takahiro Namazu), has received the Young Fellow Award at the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) 2022 Annual Meeting held at Toyama University for his presentation, titled “Effect of B Doping on Cracking in NiAl Alloy”. This award recognizes outstanding research work presented by young researchers at conferences organized by JSME. Mr. Yasugi’s research and presentation were very positively evaluated, which led to him receiving this award. This was Mr. Yasugi’s second award this year, following a Young Researcher Award that he earned at the the 19th International Conference on Precision Engineering (ICPE 2022).

Mr. Yasugi and his colleagues at the Nanomechatronics Laboratory are developing new technology for joining two wafers in less than 0.1 seconds using an aluminum-nickel (Al/Ni) multilayer film that instantaneously self-propagates and generates heat when a minute external stimulus is applied. This is an energy-saving and eco-friendly technology that is expected to significantly reduce the time and cost associated with power semiconductor device manufacturing and packaging. While developing this technology, Mr. Yasugi and his colleagues faced problems in which minute defects, such as voids and microcracks, remained in the joined section, causing the strength and thermal resistance of the joint to deteriorate. Through their research, they succeeded in significantly reducing those defects by introducing boron to the Al/Ni multilayers, which improved their fracture toughness. This results in increased bonding strength and reduced thermal resistance. With that, new technology that is expected to impact next-generation power semiconductor device manufacturing processes while positively contributing to the environment.

Mr. Yasugi commented, “It is a great honor for my research results to be recognized twice in this academic year. I struggled to pursue experiments technically, but now I feel proud to have worked so hard.” Professor Namazu added, “This award is solely the result of his continuous great efforts. Daisuke has contributed to show KUAS’s strong research activity to the world.”

(Tadayuki Imai, Faculty of Engineering)