Sufi Zafar

Sufi Zafar is a physicist and electrical engineer whose research focuses on semiconductor devices, CMOS, electronic biosensors, charge transport and reliability of nanoscale devices. She is a Research Staff Member at IBM Research's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, where she has worked since 2001.[1][2]

She received her PhD in physics from Syracuse University in 1990/1991. Her doctoral research concerned defects and hydrogen-related phenomena in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, and she subsequently pursued research in semiconductor materials and devices.[3][4]

Research

Zafar's early research involved the physics of amorphous semiconductors, including hydrogen-related defects, charge transport and defect equilibration in hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Her work subsequently expanded to semiconductor device physics and the reliability of nanoscale CMOS technologies.[4][5]

A significant part of her research has focused on the electrical degradation and charge-transport mechanisms of high-k dielectric films and SiO2-based dielectric structures used in advanced MOSFET and memory technologies. Her work in this area contributed to the understanding of reliability mechanisms in advanced CMOS devices.[6][5]

From the 2010s onward, Zafar's research increasingly focused on electronic biosensing devices. Her work includes semiconductor-based sensors capable of detecting ions, proteins and other biomolecules, with applications in healthcare, continuous monitoring and environmental sensing.[7]

Her research has included bipolar junction transistor (BJT)-based biosensors, field-effect transistor (FET) sensors and CMOS-compatible nanowire devices. IBM Research has reported that these devices have been investigated for applications including continuous health monitoring, wearable technologies, early disease diagnosis and Internet of Things applications.[7][8]

In research on BJT-based biosensors, Zafar and her collaborators demonstrated sensing of pH and single-stranded DNA and investigated the devices' sensitivity and signal-to-noise characteristics.[9]

Her work on silicon nanowire FET sensors has also addressed sensor-to-sensor variation and sensing performance, with applications in electronic biosensing and medical diagnostics.[10]

Career

Zafar joined IBM Research and has been a research staff member at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center since 2001. Her work at IBM has included semiconductor device reliability, advanced CMOS technologies, nanofabrication and electronic biosensing.[1][2]

She has also participated in scientific and professional activities through the American Physical Society and related organizations. She has served in leadership roles within the APS Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics and has been involved in mentoring students, postdoctoral researchers and engineers.[1][2]

Zafar's biosensor research has included technology-transfer and commercialization activities. A 2022 APS presentation noted that research on CMOS-compatible nanowire FET biosensors for early disease diagnosis had been licensed for commercialization.[7][11]

Awards and recognition

Zafar was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007 after nomination by the APS Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics. The citation recognized her contributions to the understanding of electrical degradation and charge-transport mechanisms in high-permittivity and SiO2 dielectric thin films, particularly in connection with advanced CMOS and memory-device applications.[6]

In 2021, she received the APS Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics Career Lectureship Award for contributions to semiconductor device-based biosensors with applications in biology, healthcare and the Internet of Things.[12]

She was an APS Distinguished Lecturer for 2022. In connection with the lectureship, she presented research on miniaturized electronic biosensors for healthcare, including BJT-based sensors and CMOS-compatible nanowire FET biosensors.[13]

Zafar was elected an IEEE Fellow in 2023 for contributions to CMOS-compatible biosensors and high-permittivity field-effect transistor reliability models.[14]

Selected publications

  • Zafar, Sufi; Schiff, E. A. "Hydrogen and defects in amorphous silicon." Physical Review Letters (1991).[4]
  • Zafar, Sufi; et al. "Comparison between Field Effect Transistors and Bipolar Junction Transistors as Transducers in Electrochemical Sensors." Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 41430.[15]
  • Zafar, Sufi; et al. "Silicon Nanowire Field Effect Transistor Sensors with Minimal Sensor-to-Sensor Variations and Enhanced Sensing Characteristics." ACS Nano (2018).[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Executive Committee – FIAP". American Physical Society. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  2. 1 2 3 "Jones Seminar: Miniaturized Biosensors for Healthcare". Dartmouth Engineering. October 2021. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  3. ↑ "Biographies", 2009 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, IEEE, 2009, pp. 1–55, doi:10.1109/IRPS.2009.5173213, ISBN 978-1-4244-2888-5
  4. 1 2 3 Franz, A.; Jackson, Warren; Gland, J. (15 February 2011). "Hydrogen and defects in amorphous silicon". ResearchGate. 467. doi:10.1557/PROC-467-147. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  5. 1 2 "Sufi Zafar". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  6. 1 2 "Fellows nominated in 2007 by the Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics". American Physical Society. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  7. 1 2 3 "Miniaturized Biosensors for Healthcare". IBM Research. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Silicon Device-based Electronic Biosensors for Sustainability and Healthcare". IBM Research. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  9. ↑ "Bipolar junction transistor based sensors for chemical and biological sensing". IBM Research. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  10. ↑ Zafar, Sufi (22 June 2018). "Silicon Nanowire Field Effect Transistor Sensors with Minimal Sensor-to-Sensor Variations and Enhanced Sensing Characteristics". ACS Nano. 12 (7): 6577–6587. Bibcode:2018ACSNa..12.6577Z. doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b01339. PMID 29932634.
  11. ↑ "APS March Meeting 2022". American Physical Society. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  12. ↑ 2021 FIAP Career Lectureship Award Recipient: Sufi Zafar, IBM TJ Watson Research Center, American Physical Society, retrieved 2026-08-21
  13. ↑ Pisano, Daniel (June 2022), "APS 2022 Distinguished Lecturer, Sufi Zafar, Says Physicists Should Explore New Fields", APS News, American Physical Society, retrieved 2026-08-21
  14. ↑ "IEEE Fellows class of 2023", 2023 IEEE Awards Booklet, p. 39, retrieved 2026-08-21
  15. ↑ Zafar, Sufi (2017). "Comparison between Field Effect Transistors and Bipolar Junction Transistors as Transducers in Electrochemical Sensors". Scientific Reports. 7 (12) 41430. Bibcode:2017NatSR...741430Z. doi:10.1038/srep41430. PMC 5278393. PMID 28139632.
  16. ↑ Zafar, Sufi (22 June 2018). "Silicon Nanowire Field Effect Transistor Sensors with Minimal Sensor-to-Sensor Variations and Enhanced Sensing Characteristics". ACS Nano. 12 (7): 6577–6587. Bibcode:2018ACSNa..12.6577Z. doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b01339. PMID 29932634.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.