nikita paul

A materials enthusiast specializing in photovoltaic semiconductor materials, High Aspect Ratio plasma etch, redox electrolytes, vapor deposition, material characterization, mechanical testing, design of experiments and failure analysis techniques with focus on developing materials and systems for industrial and engineering applications.

 NAND Technology Integration (NTI) Senior Engineer, Dry Etch Process Dev., Micron Technology, Singapore: Apr 2022- 

Present Primary Experience in the area of plasma Cryo-etch process development, diagnosis, physics and chemistry. 

Developed and optimized highly complex High Aspect Ratio (HAR) Pillar etch to improve the yield and quality for futuristic 3D NAND FLASH applications. 

Performed several DoEs to meet each of the pillar metrics (viz. Max CD, Taper, Choke CD, Twist, Tilt, RPT, etc.) to the specifications and worked together with cross functional teams to drive towards pillar Etch Roadmap. 

Provided recommendations to senior management on improvements from processes, procedures and equipment development. 

Collaborated with Technology Development partners and vendors both locally and globally. 

Research Experience Ph.D. Graduate Research Scholar, National University of Singapore, Singapore: Jan 2018- Jan 2022-

Designed multiple solar cell architectures forsolar energy harvesting using photosynthetic proteins, a new field of organic solar technologies. 

Led projects on the adaptation and enhancement of the native photovoltaic properties of the photosynthetic proteins for exploitation in novel protein solar cells, sensors and photo capacitor applications. 

Developed a self-healing biopolymer-based solar device and tactile sensor which could operate over a broad climatic conditions and temperature window, including ten degrees below zero Celsius. 

Developed a human-friendly interactive wireless Ultraviolet (UV) monitor by building a mobile application which could read Realtime ambient UV index in everyday living, alerting users from high risk of most skin cancers and other skin diseases. 

Hands-on experience in designing and testing micro-supercapacitors, bio-photocapacitors, silicon-based solarcells and dye-sensitized solar cells. 

Optimization of additive manufacturing techniques like 3D printing and Electrohydrodynamic printing for the printing of conductive inks, polymers, and nanoparticles. 

Mentored 5 students (2 undergraduate final year BE students, 2 Research interns, and 1 MS Engineering student). 

Hands-on experience of characterization techniques such as I-V measurements, luminescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, different modes of imaging using Atomic force microscopy (Trained at Bruker Singapore), Solartron workstation, CHI electrochemical workstation, Transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis, Electrohydrodynamic printer, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy.

Hands-on experience in thin film deposition and patterning involving lithography, Chemical vapor deposition, RFSputtering, Physical vapor deposition, spin coating