AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Manufacturing Science and Technology Wednesday Sessions
       Session MS+MN+NS-WeM

Invited Paper MS+MN+NS-WeM3
Next Generation Semiconductor Devices based on Carbon Nanotubes

Wednesday, November 2, 2005, 9:00 am, Room 207

Session: Advanced Manufacturing for Nano-scale Devices & Systems
Presenter: T. Rueckes, Nantero, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email

Nantero is developing carbon nanotube-based nonvolatile Random Access Memory (NRAM@super TM@, a high density, high speed, low power universal memory. The target markets in aggregate exceed $100B in revenue per year. To support the development of NRAM@super TM@ Nantero has enabled a unique nanoelectronics platform that for the first time allows the use of carbon nanotubes in DUV production CMOS fabs. Single-walled carbon nanotubes have a combination of properties that make them highly valuable for use in electronics applications, such as higher electrical conductivity than copper, higher thermal conductivity than diamond, higher strength than steel, and molecular-scale size (diameter of 10Å, wall thickness of 1 carbon atom) combined with high chemical and thermal stability. However, there were substantial barriers to using this material in a mass production process: nanotubes could not be positioned reliably on wafers, they were available only with substantial particulates and contaminants and device properties were hard to control. Nantero has developed solutions to all of these problems which now allow carbon nanotubes to be used in production CMOS processes on established tool sets in existing semiconductor fabs. Nantero’s carbon nanotube-enabled NRAM@super TM@can be used as an embedded memory within logic products such as microprocessors, ASICs, programmable logic or as a standalone memory that can replace multichip packages in cell phones and enable instant-on computers.