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Dispersion force masked-based helium atom lithography

Project description

Improved leading-edge chip features

Semiconductor chips are the foundation on which digitalisation is built. Demand for so-called leading-edge chips, those with the smallest features available (relative to lagging-edge, mature and large-feature technologies), is increasing exponentially. They will be crucial to the European economy in sectors from automotive, financial services and ICT to AI and quantum computing. Further, these leading-edge chips require optimised features to meet performance and power efficiency requirements. The EIC-funded FabouLACE project plans to develop a prototype that improves leading-edge chip features. Successful demonstration could pave the way to commercialisation of these unparalleled leading-edge chips.

Objective

As Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice-President, said There is no digital without chips.
Leading-edge semiconductors provide the foundation of the digitalization of entire sectors and industries that are transforming the EU economy and of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Photolithography is currently used for the initial patterning step of chip manufacturing and leading-edge chips require smaller and smaller features.
The smallest features that can be produced with this technology (26 nm at present and expected to reach 16 nm in 2028) not only limits the performance and power efficiency of leading-edge chips, but also the opening of new markets linked to quantum devices and silicon devices with integrated light sources.
FabouLACE project catches this opportunity through a disruptive lithography approach that uses metastable atoms and dispersion force-based masks and enables features of 2 nm. The technology, currently at proof of concept stage and protected by two patents, will be brought at TRL 6 by the end of the project by developing a prototype. Its performances will be validated together with Imec (key actor in the development, testing and early adoption of nano- and digital technology innovations, including lithography) and end-users in the markets of interest. The spin-off Lace, founded in 2022, will bring the technology to the market by 2031. The technology has already attracted a great interest among investors (450k raised in few months) and among the major foundry Intel that accepted Lace in its highly competitive start-up program intel-ignite. Market and business readiness will be developed together with end-users and leveraging on the economic support from investors (>3M private funding expected to be attracted by 2026). The technological and business maturation is expected to result in as much as 628M in revenue in the 2031-2036 period. Let the quantum future begin.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2023-TRANSITION-01

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Coordinator

LACE LITHOGRAPHY AS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 153 687,50
Address
THORMOHLENS GATE 51
5006 BERGEN
Norway

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 153 687,50

Participants (1)

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