PREVIOUS AWARDS

Doug (Chen-Hua) Yu

Accomplishments

Driving Force behind Taiwan’s World-leading Semiconductor Process Technology Subtitle: Leading R&D Team towards Independent Development, Rewriting the World’s Semiconductor Game Rules

Dr. Doug Yu was born in 1955 in Keelung, a city known as the Rainy Harbor due to its plentiful rains. He graduated from National Tsing Hua University with a B.S. in Physics in 1977 and an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering in 1979. Upon completing military service, Dr. Yu was awarded a scholarship from the Georgia Institute of Technology to study materials science. There, he expanded his knowledge into other fields including electronics, mechanics, and chemical engineering. In 1987, Dr. Yu obtained his Ph.D. and started his career at AT&T Bell Labs in the United States, spearheading novel research in semiconductor technology. While at Bell Labs, he oversaw R&D, pioneering the development of single-chip plasma-enhanced thin film technology as well as low-power, low-voltage devices. These innovations were integral to the continued growth of semiconductor technology in the following decades.

In 1994, Dr. Yu returned to Taiwan with his family and joined TSMC’s R&D team. From 1997 onwards, he oversaw the copper process R&D in TSMC, notably building Taiwan’s first self-sufficient copper process laboratory. While doing this, he also independently invented the advanced 0.18㎛ copper process, securing TSMC’s foundation in advanced process technology. During this process, and continuing afterwards, Dr. Yu faced many challenges in mass production. However, he was able to overcome these obstacles and begin mass production with the 150nm copper process. With the success enjoyed by the 130nm process technology, the newer process developed by Dr. Yu was primed to replace the aluminum process and become the world’s latest mainstream technology.

Dr. Yu has also pioneered several cases of high-tech transferral from Taiwan to other companies working in similar sectors in other, developed countries. His innovation, coupled with his ability to communicate internationally, has brought in astronomical economic value for TSMC and, in turn, Taiwan as a nation.

Dr. Yu is an authority on the innovative technology of world-class submicron IC back-end interconnection process. During his work advancing the complex semiconductor process, Dr. Yu has received 190 patents in the USA and 173 patents in Taiwan. He has accumulated significant silicon wealth for TSMC. In addition to the aforementioned semiconductor backend process, Dr. Yu’s contribution also covers critical front-end processes. In this regard, many of his patents have been applied in mass production and also serve as key technologies in TSMC’s authorization exchange with competitors. His excellent performance in science and innovation is reflected in the following accolades. From 1996-2003, he was honored with TSMC’s Outstanding Patent and Innovative Invention Awards 8 consecutive times. In 2002 and 2003, he received the TSMC Best Patent Award presented by the Chairman, plus prizes from the government such as the Taiwan's National Invention and Creation Award in 2001 and the Executive Yuan Award for Outstanding Talents in Science and Technology in 2003 and the MOEA Award for Industrial Technology Development in 2004.

Dr. Yu has been with the TSMC for over 2 decades, during which time he has successfully developed the copper conductor/low dielectric material interconnection technology, surpassing other competitors by moving from 0.13 ㎛ to 40nm. He also led R&D on wafer-level system packaging technology and developed the 2D/3D integration technology for heterogeneous microsystems. Dr. Yu led global semiconductor development forwards with his innovated R&D achievements in CoWoS, InFO-PoP and TSV technologies, which can be widely applied in high-efficiency high-bandwidth, low-power consumption microsystem chips. Notably, these developments were significant factors which pushed TSMC to be chosen as the exclusive chip provider for the iPhone 7. It is anticipated that its application in system chips, such as AI and autonomic vehicles, will expand drastically, subsequently enhancing TSMC’s competitiveness and further securing Taiwan’s pioneering status in the global semiconductor market.

Dr. Yu’s long-standing research in the semiconductor sector has led Taiwan’s TSMC towards R&D advancement in copper conductor/low dielectric material interconnection technology that is unparalleled globally. His research also cements TSMC’s leading status in Wafer IDM while also guiding Taiwan’s downstream package testing companies to become the world’s leading Wafer packaging providers. This forms a complete cluster of industrial supply chains in Taiwan. Dr. Yu was the first to facilitate mobile payment on mobile phones by way of the Through-Silicon Via (TSV) technology integrated with IC and sensor components, initiating the world into the 3D IC era. In particular, 3D IC packaging is an example of TSMC’s piloting of the self-paying service in Taiwan, galvanizing Taiwan’s businesses to gradually form a supply chain for package equipment, while augmenting TSMC’s long-standing international competitiveness. The trickle effect of this was to create domestic job opportunities, increase GDP, and raise Taiwan’s international profile.

As previously mentioned, Dr. Y is a specialist in semiconductors. His hard work and achievements in TSMC for the past 2 decades has shown the world that Taiwan has the world’s top talent and technologies in electronic materials. Between 1990 and early 2000, Dr. Yu’s precise judgment on and industrial implementation of the critical low-K dielectric materials in the copper process has led to tremendous contributions for TSMC to gradually advance to leading status with the 0.13 ㎛ copper process. The success of the copper process was a significant turning point for TSMC. More importantly, when the packaging was in the bottleneck stage of the semiconductor development, Dr. Yu was able to deliver his strength in the materials and applied sciences sector to implement the exclusive CoWoS and InFO technologies that enable the integration of Integrated Circuits and their packages, ushering in the 3D-IC era across the globe. This achievement has also propelled TSMC into a brand-new sphere of systematic integration. Besides generating enormous revenue for TSMC in the past 2 years in the sector of smart hand-held devices and machine learning, Dr. Yu’s contribution will, in future, also serve as an extension of Moore’s Law in that Taiwan’s competitive industries will continue to thrive and lead the world.