710557Next Generation 'Spin-on-carbon hard masks' for the semiconductor industryClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKIrresistible Materials (IM) is developing next generation ‘spin-on carbon hard masks’ for the semiconductor industry. Since the 1970s computational capacity has doubled every 18 months, driven by the famous Moore's Law. The end of Moore’s law is predicted but innovations in microfabrication have allowed further progress. Computing and digital communications are now pervasive, leading to a global ‘information age’ and changing lives in many ways. Industry met this challenge by transistor miniaturization. The number of transistors ‘printed’ in a given area at a given cost has increased exponentially. Transistors are printed into silicon using a technique called lithography, and continual lithographic improvements have sustained progress. However, as devices have shrunk it is increasingly difficult to maintain the performance of planar transistors (the most common type), as the insulating layer becomes so thin that electrons leak across it. Leakage current is the primary factor constraining further improvement – it increases power consumption (already 3% of the world’s electricity usage), and leads to overheating and chip failure. In 2011 Intel announced that it would move away from planar transistors, to the ‘tri-gate’ three-dimensional architecture. In April 2012 the first tri-gate chips went on sale delivering twice the performance per watt. Cost-effective manufacturability remains a key concern. Irresistible Materials is specifically addressing materials requirements for cost effective manufacture of next generation devices (such as tri-gate). The aspect ratio (height divided by width) of such devices is directly proportional to efficiency – in order to be effective the transistor must be tall and thin. Existing solutions are both cost-prohibitive and not easily extended to enable future shrinkage. We have invented a new material to enable this high aspect ratio device manufacture at low cost and with the capacity to extend to future generations of microchips.