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Thomas Theis received a B.S. degree in physics from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1972, and M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees from Brown University in 1974 and 1978,
respectively. A portion of his Ph.D. research was done
at the Technical University of Munich, where he
completed a postdoctoral year before joining IBM
Research in 1979.
Dr. Theis joined the Department of Semiconductor
Science and Technology at the IBM Watson Research
Center to study electronic properties of
two-dimensional systems. He also collaborated in
research on surface enhanced Raman scattering, light
emission from tunnel junctions, and conduction in
silicon dioxide. The latter work helped to lay the
basis for the present understanding of conduction in
wide band-gap materials. In 1982 he became manager of
a group studying growth and properties of III-V
semiconductors. He published extensively on the
DX-center, a donor-related defect which limits the
digital performance of some III-V transistors. In 1989
he was named Senior Manager, Semiconductor Physics and
Devices. In 1993 he was named Senior Manager, Silicon
Science and Technology, where he was responsible for
exploratory materials and process integration work
bridging between Research and the IBM Microelectronics
Division. While in this position, he was the principal
author of IBM's successful contract proposal for the
DARPA Low Power Electronics Program. This fifteen
million dollar, three year,
industry-university-SEMATECH joint program
significantly advanced silicon-on-insulator materials,
devices, and design techniques for low-power,
high-performance microelectronics. Also while in this
position, Dr. Theis coordinated the transfer of copper
interconnection technology from IBM Research to the
IBM Microelectronics Division. The replacement of
aluminum chip wiring by copper was an industry first,
the biggest change in chip wiring technology in thirty
years, and involved close collaboration between
research, product development, and manufacturing
organizations. Dr. Theis assumed his current position,
Director, Physical Sciences, in February 1998.
Dr. Theis is a member of the IEEE, the Materials
Research Society, a Fellow of the American Physical
Society and currently serves on advisory boards for
the American Institute of Physics Corporate Associates
and the National Nanofabrication Users network, and
the advisory committee for the NIST Advanced
Technology Program. He has authored or co-authored
over 60 scientific and technical publications.
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