INDUSTRY NEWS

Moore or less

A team of scientists at Bell Labs may have given Moore's Law an extra six years of life. The researchers at the Lucent Technologies R&D facility in Murray Hill, NJ, have produced a silicon dioxide layer measuring five atoms thick. That's some 20 atoms thinner than the industry's standard gate oxide. If the results bear out in the fab, the breakthrough gives the industry more time to develop alternative insulating layers, says researcher David Muller. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors per inch of a silicon wafer will double every 18 months. Thus, the industry has until 2012 and not 2006, according to Muller. It's either that or find a spanking-new process technology.

Lucent wants to use the Bell Labs research for next-generation communications devices. In order to make the ultrathin gate oxide, the scientists grew atomic layers that were completely uniform and smooth. The top and bottom layers touch the silicon wafer, leaving only three middle layers acting as a barrier to keep electrons from causing short circuits. Researcher Greg Timp and colleagues used rapid thermal oxidation to expose the silicon to 1000°C for 10 seconds and then studied individual atoms on the gate oxide with a scanning transmission electron microscope. The real test, of course, comes when the work is transferred from the lab to the fab, where the ultrathin gate oxides will rub against yield and reliability issues.

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