NanotechnologyElectronics and Photonics

Walt Trybula, Ph.D.IEEE Fellow & SPIE Fellow

DirectorNANOMATERIALS APPLICATION CENTER

http://www.nanotxstate.org Texas State University-San Marcos

Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus September 10, 2007

Objective of Presentation

• Present an update on the status of nano technology developments in Electronics and Photonics

• Provide a glimpse of the challenges of implementing nano technology in these areas

• Highlight some advantages of implementing the nano technology into products

• Indicate the importance of moving forward with nano technology implementations

Format Employed for Examples

Topic:A picture or description is employed to indicate the device or structure being described

Issues:A short listing of some of the issues that are inhibiting the application of the specific example and will typically include an indication of the sizes involved

Potential Solutions:This list contains actions that must be continued/started to develop the specific example to either a concept feasibility state or a production worthy state

Benefits:This list indicates some of the advantages of developing products that will employ the device or structure described

Semiconductor Conductivity

Issues:• Line widths of less than 50nm

may have conductivity issues due to grain boundaries and crystal orientations

• Resultant impact on device performance and yield

Potential Solutions:•Revert to Aluminum conductors with an associated loss in properties•Enhanced uniformity of copper with lower actual conductivity•Develop new processes and equipment

Benefits:•Improved performance•Higher yields and lower costs•Improved designs and functionality

Transistor Evolution

Issues:•Sizes under 20nm•Manufacturing capability•Developing theoretical understanding•Experimental data•Radical change from experience

Potential Solutions:•Continued research and development•Develop understanding of operational characteristics•Industry/academia involvement in materials and functionality evaluations

Benefits:•Continue on with existing devices•Extension of Moore’s Law•Existing infrastructure continues to support the industry

source

Gate

drain

source

Gate

drain

Future: 15 years Non-classical CMOS

Beyond CMOS

2 June 2003

What is the Infrastructure?• For Semiconductors – Lithography

– Exposure tools (create images)– Mask (pattern for exposure tools)– Resist (Form images on wafer)– Metrology (measure/characterize images)– [each line above has a corresponding infrastructure]

• Mask Infrastructure Example– Pattern Generator– Mask Substrate Material– Inspection Tools– Repair Tools

• Laser Repair• Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Repair• E-beam Repair

Wire

Via

The “nano”region

Quantum Dot Transistors

Issues:•Primary designs require extremely low temperatures•Possible room-temperature designs would require 10nm features•Material fabrication is not on silicon

Potential Solutions:•New material solutions•Improved III-V compound semiconductors

Benefits:•Reduce number of transistors per circuit function•New opportunities for innovative designs•Enhanced security

Gated quantum wire in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure 2DEG.

Prof. Gregory Spencer – Texas State University

Novel Memory

Issues:• Existing memory density• Spacings below 20nm• Interconnections• Failure mechanisms• Power requirements

Potential Solutions:•Nanowire applications•Innovative lithography below 32nm•Self-assembly of interconnects•Self-assembly of memory units•Molecular storage

Benefits:•Increased density of storage•Dense solid state memory•Improved switching times•Faster computing with greater memory access

Picture courtesy of M. Meyyappan

Molecular Electronics

Konstantin Likharev, The Industrial Physicist, June/July 2003, p.20

Changed Material Properties

Issues:•Material properties change as the size of the material becomes smaller•Majority of changes start to occur between 20nm and 10nm•Some material properties are known, many are not

Potential Solutions:•Quantify and classify the material properties in the range between bulk material properties and quantum phenomena•Establish an effort to develop a database of material properties with contributions from researchers

Benefits:•Improve the time to develop nano based devices, due to eliminating the duplication of research efforts•Creation of new products based on applying novel nano propertiesExample: Creating gold conductors on material that melts below 500oC and produces enhanced flexible devices

Melting point of Gold

Nanowires

Issues:•Research applications with dimensions below 20nm•Manufacturing processes rely on fabrication in “forms”•Large scale, ordered fabrication is not available

Potential Solutions•Development of new processes based on ongoing research•Additional efforts in related materials•Improved processes/equipment

Benefits:•Unique electrical and optical properties•Building units for devices•Wire diameter change results in band gap changes, which implies customizable effects

Ray Solanki, Oregon Science and Health University, Feb.23, 2004 issue Applied Physics Letter

Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT)

Issues:•Production of Single Walled CNTs yield a mixture of types (dimensions to less than 1nm)

• Metallic• Semiconductive

•Separation of types is time consuming

Potential Solutions•Continue development efforts

Benefits:•Novel electronic devices•High temperature applications•Improved microscopy

Solar Cells (Organic)

Issues:•Efficiencies•Material development•Manufacturing processes

Potential Solutions•Development of organic plastics with improved efficiency•Development of adsorptive dyes•Flexible conductors•Enhanced property covering material

Benefits:•Low cost energy•Inexpensive to manufacture yielding to wide spread applications

Credit: Nicole Cappello and the Georgia Institute of Technology

New Material Properties

Issues:•Unanticipated properties are being found in nano materials – Example:

• Thirteen atoms of Silver have been shown theoretically to be magnetic

• Thirteen atoms of Platinum have been experimentally shown to be magnetic

Potential Solutions:•Quantify and classify the material properties in the range between bulk material properties and quantum phenomena•Establish a program to employ theoretical projections to verify experimental data

Benefits:•Improve the time to develop nano based devices, due to eliminating the duplication of research efforts•Creation of new products based on applying novel nano propertiesExample: The creation of new memory devices that are 100x more dense than current technology

Silver properties reported May 30, 2006 in NanoTechWebPlatinum experiments reported by University of Stuttgart

Metrology

Issues:•Imaging realm is at limits of resolution, in the 1nm range•Time per image is long >one hour•Effective imaging applications require multiple images in minutes or less

Potential Solutions:•New solutions for metrology•Enhancements to equipment•New technologies

Benefits:•Improved resolution of material properties•Capability to employ in manufacturing processes•If one can not measure something, it can not be manufactured

Aberration Corrected HR-TEM Korgel Group Si Nanowire

Au dot structure&

Nanowire Twinning

Metrology

Issues:•Imaging is slow and computations are time consuming•Unique structures can not be verified•No validation results•Dimensions extend to below 1nm

Potential Solutions•Development and execution of validation plan•Improved algorithms•Improved equipment for rapid imaging

Benefits:•Improved understanding of materials•Ability to identify unique nano structures•Ability to create and verify novel materials

Not corrected

Corrected

Sloan, et al., MRS Bulletin, April 2004

Aberration Corrected TEM ImagingAberration Corrected TEM Imaging

K & I in nanotube

Photonics

Issues:•Many developmental applications, no outstanding “hit” in the public’s awareness•Much solid, but diverse research without significant cross discipline fertilization

Potential Solutions•Continue/expand the research efforts, especially in health and energy•Encourage development of technology to support national priorities

Benefits:•Numerous application with substantially enhanced performance in health and military applications•Sensor technology connected to electronics will provide improved diagnostic capability

S. R. J. Brueck, University of New Mexico

Optical Transmission on a Chip

Issues:•Devices are in early prototype stages•Testing and evaluation of devices to ensure reliability•Integration with existing circuitry

Potential Solutions•Commercialization development•High performance applications employing alternative materials•Integration into wide spread use based on reduced costs

Benefits:•High speed data communications•Built in Self Test•Projected 20Gps transfer rates

Intel picture – April 2004 in DeviceForce.com

Why Employ Photonics?

• Signals travel at the speed of light• Photons, unlike electrons have no weight and create no

resistance.• Focused light generated by lasers constitutes the highest

concentration of energy known on earth• A pulse of photons can be as short as one-millionth of a

billionth of a second, the dimension of time in which molecular and atomic reactions take place

• Light beams are well-suited not only to help us see, but also to hold and manipulate atoms

• As light acts virtually contact-free; it can be used as a tool even under extreme conditions.

Consolidated European Photonics Research InitiativePhotonics for the 21st Century

Photonics – European Projections

Estimation for 2003:•500,000 jobs in the EU•€60 billon worth of products•15,000 patents

Prediction for 2010:•1.5 million jobs in the EU•€250 billion worth of products•45,000 patents

Focus on:•Information storage•Bandwidth increases•Energy saving applications•Optical applications in health

Cell Evaluation

Consolidated European Photonics Research InitiativePhotonics for the 21st Century

Early Entry is Required

• Being late means losing leading edge capabilities• Catching up requires investing in the old technology

and the new technology simultaneously– Requires very deep governmental funding– Requires trained workforce.

• Being “leading edge” means always being in the race to improve both people and equipment

• Significant benefits come to the early successful entries

• High value jobs are part of the reward of being successful in developing the emerging technology

2 June 2003 Presentation : Business and Economics of Nano

Development Interdependency

The U.S. must possess every element of the “nano” manufacturing infrastructure

Semiconductor Failure Example: 248nm Exposure Tool

– Ready for production in 1991– Only reached production in 1995

• Why was there a 4 year delay?– Resists were not production worthy– Resulting in insufficient experience – Resulting in lack of willingness to take risks

To be successful with technology introduction, the complete infrastructure must be ready at the beginning

Research Challenges

Nano technology brings on new challenges• Existing tools for investigations at the atomic level

are expensive to acquire and maintain• New research tools need to be developed to

explore the nano realm• Specialized facilities are required to maintain the

cleanliness need for nano technology• A new infrastructure might be required for the

equipment yet-to-be-developed

Education Challenges

Nano technology requires education and training in multiple fields for successful collaboration

• Combinations of chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, computer science, and many related disciplines are needed to fully understand the development of nano technology

• The development of the nano technology industry will require well educated technicians

• Scientific education needs to begin early in the learning process

Summary

• There are many opportunities to incorporate nano technologies into innovative products

• Fundamental research is required to understand the potential applications of the properties of nano materials

• Future high tech products will incorporate the advantages of nano-materials

• From the national interests, it is important for researchers to continue to push the understanding of nano technology

Conclusions

• The U.S. has the technical capability and is evolving nano-technology into a business environment

• Building from S/C1 provides ability to coordinate industry, university, and infrastructure roles in developing “nano” in more than electronics

• Tools and facilities for nano are expensive• Nano-technology requires being on the leading edge of

developments including equipment• Infrastructure development must be sustained• Continual evaluation of “weak” links is required

1S/C = semiconductor

Texas State University-San Marcos is a premier, student-centered public university offering baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees to students on a traditional residential campus.

Founded: 1899 as SWT State Normal School

President: Dr. Denise M. Trauth

Campus area: 427 acres in main campus (including 4,322 acres of farm, ranch & recreational areas)

ABOUT TEXAS STATE

110 Undergraduate majors(7 academic colleges)

84 Masters programs6 PhD programsEE Program (Fall ’07)MSE Ph.D. Program (‘09)

• Total student enrollment (27,503)

• Undergraduate (23,022)• Hispanic/ Latino (5,025)

(21%)

• 1110 Faculty• 93% teach on the

undergraduate level.

http://www.txstate.edu Fall 2007

NANOMATERIALS APPLICATION CENTER

MISSION: The NANOMATERIALS APPLICATION CENTER at Texas State University-San Marcos coordinates, facilitates, disseminates information, and expedites nanoscience and nanoengineering developments to expedite the commercialization of innovation.

GOAL: Accelerate the development of high technology and the dissemination of these developments in order to expedite commercialization.

NANO-SAFETY

The NANOMATERIALS APPLICATION CENTER is addressing four key areas for developing a NANO-SAFETY collaborative effort that identifies the nanomaterial properties, the effect on humans and the environment, the means of handling the materials correctly, and the procedures that must be in place to minimize risk in applications. Discussions have been initiated with numerous organizations in order to address this critical issue.

Contact Information

Walt Trybula, Ph.D.IEEE Fellow & SPIE Fellow

w.trybula@ieee.org Director

Nanomaterials Application CenterTexas State University-San Marcos

w.trybula@txstate.edu+1.512.245.6062

DirectorThe Trybula Foundation, Inc.

w.trybula@tryb.org+1.512.695.4026