"Elder Scholar's 'Experience' + Junior's 'Passion'... United to Develop Next-Generation High-Temperature Superconductors"

KAIST Opens 7th Ultra-Generation Collaborative Research Lab

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] An elderly scholar nearing retirement contributes accumulated achievements and know-how, while a young junior adds passion, ideas, and free imagination. They have united to develop the ‘next-generation ultra-thermal conductor,’ which is as thin as a strand of hair and has a thermal conductivity higher than diamond.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is opening an additional ‘Super-Generational Collaborative Laboratory,’ where retiring scholars pass on their know-how and achievements to the younger generation, and will hold a plaque ceremony on the afternoon of the 24th.

The ‘Super-Generational Collaborative Laboratory’ is an independent research system started by KAIST in 2018, where professors nearing retirement collaborate with junior professors to continue the academic achievements and know-how accumulated over many years. The seventh laboratory to open, the ‘Next-Generation Ultra-Thermal Conductor Laboratory,’ is led by Professor Kim Sung-jin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, an authority in electronic device cooling, who collaborates with Professor Nam Young-seok, an expert in phase change (the phenomenon where the state of matter changes from one phase to another depending on external conditions such as temperature and pressure).

The two professors collaborate using phase change control technology and metal thin-film packaging technology to develop the ‘next-generation ultra-thermal conductor,’ which is as thin as a strand of hair and has a thermal conductivity higher than diamond. The ‘next-generation ultra-thermal conductor’ is produced in a flexible thin-film structure that can be freely bent, making it applicable to thermal management of various high-heat flexible electronic devices. It is also an ultra-thin structure that can be embedded inside semiconductor device packages, enabling low-power, high-performance thermal management in semiconductor-based technology platforms.

Professor Nam Young-seok emphasized the importance, stating, “The ultra-thermal conductor researched in the Super-Generational Collaborative Laboratory is a core fundamental technology in the field of thermal management for semiconductors and electronic devices.”

KAIST has established the BFO (The Best, the First, the Only) Recommendation Committee since last year to ensure the stable establishment and activation of the ‘Super-Generational Collaborative Laboratory,’ discovering and soliciting laboratories that pursue sustainable research innovation across generations. A total of 500 million KRW in operating funds will be supported over the next five years.