Education, Work and Research Experience
Marcel continuously pursues his dream of a thriving career in academia. Since December 2018, he has been working as a Professional Research Assistant in the research group of Steven M. George at the University of Colorado Boulder (CUB) in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He was a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Research Scholar and successfully completed three Global Research Collaboration (GRC) Nanomanufacturing Materials and Processes (NMP) projects, namely 3288.001: »Selective Thermal Spontaneous Etching or Atomic Layer Etching Using Reaction Parameters, Co-Adsorbates and Surface Inhibition« (Jan – Dec 2025); 3083.001: »Gas-Phase Methods for Selective Thermal Atomic Layer Etching of Si-Based Materials« (Jan 2022 – Dec 2024); and 2871.001: »Area-Selective Deposition of Organic Films using Molecular Layer Deposition and Molecular Layer Etching« (Jan 2019 – Dec 2021). He has been collaborating with industrial liaisons from Intel Corporation, Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), ASM International N.V., IBM Corporation, and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
Already in 2008, a student research project about the »Investigation and Optimization of a Plasma-Enhanced Ruthenium ALD Process« in the group of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johann W. Bartha at the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) in Dresden, Germany, sparked Marcel’s interest in atomic layer deposition (ALD) and ellipsometry. In 2010, he participated in the »Multifunctional Nanomaterials Characterisation Exploiting Ellipsometry and Polarimetry (NANOCHARM) Winter School on Ellipsometry« in Bad Hofgastein, Austria. In 2011, he graduated from TUD with a Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing., equivalent to a Master of Science, M.Sc.) degree in electrical engineering. His course of studies specialized in microelectronics and included the subjects: electromagnetic theory, solid-state electronics, digital & analog circuit design, materials science, vacuum technology, semiconductor technology & metrology, among others. His master’s thesis about the »Development and Characterization for a Thermal-Activated Atomic Layer Deposition Process of Ruthenium via In-Situ Measurement Techniques« received the GlobalFoundries Award 2011 for the best diploma thesis in his year’s microelectronics degree program.
After his M.Sc., Marcel secured a six-months contract as a Scientist under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Mikolajick at the Nano-electronic Materials Laboratory gGmbH (NaMLab) in Dresden. Afterward, he received a three-year Ph.D. Innovation Fellowship from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Free State of Saxony of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the turn of 2012/13, he stayed for a quarter year as a Visiting Researcher in the ellipsometry group of Prof. Dr. habil. Mathias Schubert at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, where he studied the »Atomic Layer Deposition of Metals Monitored by In-Situ Ellipsometry« and evaluated a precursor for the ALD of gold in collaboration with Seán Barry from Carleton University, Canada. Marcel presented the results of these gold ALD studies at the American Vacuum Society (AVS) 13th International Conference on ALD in San Diego, USA (2013). While visiting UNL, he gained profound knowledge of ellipsometry instrumentation, data acquisition, and modeling, which enabled him to accelerate an in situ real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (irtSE) method towards a sampling rate above 1 Hz. Upon his return to TUD, he pioneered the irtSE investigation of oxide, nitride, and metal ALD in combination with hybrid, in vacuo metrology—i.e., x-ray and ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy, as well as scanning probe microscopy. When possible, he plans to defend his dissertation about »In Situ Real-Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry as a Method for the Investigation of Oxide, Nitride, and Metal Atomic Layer Depositions« at TUD.
From 2014 to 2018, Marcel conducted research as a full-time Scientist at TUD on the project »Quantum-Mechanical Device Concepts Including Ultra-Thin Functional ALD Films for Employment in TeraHertz Applications (Qualify THz)«, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and in close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Christian Wenger from the IHP GmbH – Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. Together, the IHP team and Marcel developed processing strategies for the integration of dielectrics on monolayer graphene to fabricate and characterize a new generation of bipolar-type transistor architectures with graphene as the base terminal sandwiched between ultra-thin tunnel dielectrics. His work on this project included surface-science characterizations of several types of monolayer graphene, as well as ALD nucleation studies thereon. His project achievements were integrated into IHP’s pilot production.
Research Interests and Expertise
Marcel is an inductive thinker, well-suited for a scientific career. In total, until now, his advanced expertise in selective, atomic-scale processing (AP)—i.e., ALD, molecular layer deposition (MLD), atomic layer etching (ALE), spontaneous or chemical vapor etching (CVE), area-selective deposition and selective etching—as well as in situ and in vacuo metrology—especially spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE)—is based on more than 15 years of applied experience. In addition, he has been leading industry collaborations and/or contract research involving: inter alia, Intel, TEL, IBM, ASM, Samsung, Infineon Technologies Regensburg, Germany, and GlobalFoundries Dresden, where his gained research results have been reproducibly transferred into semiconductor device production. Together with Steve George, Marcel has one pending US Patent application for the »Selective Etching of Silicon Dioxide and Silicon Nitride Containing Materials«. He contributed to one NMP project proposal that obtained successful funding from SRC (2024–2025) and majorly contributed to two project proposals that obtained successful funding from the DFG (2012–2015, 2015–2017). Personal grants until now include: his ESF Ph.D. Innovation Fellowship (2011–2014), a Travel Award from TUD’s Graduate Academy (GA) (2015), and a Group2Group Exchange for Academic Talents (great!ipid4all) Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and TUD’s GA (2017).
Publications and Peer Reviews
Marcel authored and co-authored, respectively, 17 peer-reviewed publications together with more than 60 different co-authors, which attracted 205 citations by 166 different documents on Scopus® (2011-2025, h-index: 10). He will give an invited, 60-min tutorial about »Selective Thermal Atomic Layer Etching or Spontaneous Etching« at the AVS Area-Selective Deposition Workshop (ASD) in Albany, NY (2026). He further gave an invited, 30-min talk about »In Situ Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of Selective Thermal Dry Etching« at the AVS 71st International Symposium & Exhibition in Charlotte, NC (2025); an invited, 60-min lecture about »In Situ (Real-Time) Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of Selective Ångström-Scale Processes« in the Nebraska Ellipsometry Lecture Series (2025); an invited poster and 2-min pitch about »Gas-Phase Methods for Selective Thermal Atomic Layer Etching of Si-Based Materials« at SEMI’s Industry Strategy Symposium in Half Moon Bay, CA (2024); an invited, 30-min tutorial about »In-Situ Metrology Techniques in ALD« at the Europäische Forschungsgesellschaft Dünne Schichten e.V. (EFDS) Workshop »ALD for Industry« in Dresden (2017); an invited talk, jointly with Dr. Jonas Sundqvist, about the »Chemical Path to Atomic Layer Etching« at the NaMLab Novel High-k Application Workshop in Dresden (2016); and an invited, 90-min lecture about »In-Situ Characterization for ALD/ MLD« at the MP1402 – Hooking together European Research in Atomic Layer Deposition (HERALD) Summer School »Atomic Layer Deposition: Method and Applications« in Brescia, Italy (2015). In addition, he presented over 30 oral or poster contributions as the first author at internationally established symposia, conferences, or workshops. He also conducts peer reviews for the scientific journals: Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal of Materials Science, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, and Microelectronic Engineering.
University Didactics, Teaching and Supervising Experience
From 2011 to 2013, Marcel received comprehensive training in teaching and learning in higher education at the Hochschuldidaktisches Zentrum Sachsen (HDS) and holds the Sächsisches Hochschuldidaktik-Zertifikat (Saxon Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2013) . He gained teaching experience at TUD as an instructor for the courses: »Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering« (winter semester 2011/12) and »Electric and Magnetic Fields« (summer semester 2012). In addition, he supervised four master’s theses (one of which received the GlobalFoundries Award 2016) and four interdisciplinary student research projects at TUD. Since 2022, he has been mentoring two graduate students at CUB.
Organization of Scientific Symposia, Conferences, or Workshops;
Membership in Scientific Networks and Societies
Marcel is actively involved in the Organizing Committee for the 1st American Workshop on Ellipsometry in Lincoln, NE (2027) and the Program Committee of the Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (EL) Technical Group for the AVS 72nd International Symposium & Exhibition in Pittsburgh, PA (2026). He served on the Local Organizing Committee for the 10th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry in Boulder, CO (2025) and co-organized, together with Mariona Coll and Maximilian Gebhard, the 2nd HERALD Early Career Investigator (ECI) Meeting »Bonding HERALD.ECIs from Ideas to Proposals« in Barcelona, Spain (2018). He has been an active member of the AVS since 2024, where he has been involved in the leadership of the EL Technical Group since 2025; the North American Ellipsometry Association (NAEA) since its formation in 2023; as well as the Arbeitskreis Ellipsometrie – Paul Drude e.V. (AKE) since 2012, where he served as an elected member of the extended executive board (2014–2016). He was a student member of the following scientific societies: SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics (2015), Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG) (2014–2018), AVS (2013, 2015), and Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e.V. (VDE) (2011–2018).