On March 17, 2026 Prof. Thomas Mikolajick received the James C. McGroddy Prize 2026 of the American Physical Society for his seminal contributions to the implementation of ultra-thin, hafnium-based ferroelectrics in microelectronic devices together with Prof. Sayeef Salahuddin at the APS Global Physics Summit in Denver, Colorado, USA (https://www.aps.org/funding-recognition/prize/james-mcgroddy).
(Photo: S. Salahudin)
The ferroelectric behavior of thin doped hafnium oxide was discovered by Tim Böscke, a Ph.D. student at former Qimonda Dresden GmbH, in 2006. Prof. Mikolajick received the award for his work at NaMLab gGmbH introducing this ferroelectric material into microelectronics devices and the understanding thereof.
NaMLab gGmbH began researching ferroelectric-doped hafnium oxide in 2009. This year, at its high-k workshop in March, the company celebrated the 20th anniversary of the discovery of ferroelectric-doped hafnium oxide: https://www.namlab.com/high-k-workshop-2026-march-24-25th/