AttoSwitch: towards nanoscale transistors with extremely low energy consumption
AMO GmbH is one of the six members of AttoSwitch, a Horizon Europe project that aims at developing ultra-energy-efficient transistors for logic and high-frequency analog integrated chips by building on the unique properties of Dirac semimetals.
Information and communication technologies are having an increasing impact on global energy demand, with forecasts indicating that they will account for 20% of total energy consumption by the end of the decade. Innovations in transistor technologies can in part slow down this trend by providing more energy-efficient electronics. However, the energy-efficiency of CMOS electronics is ultimately limited by thermal effects, which sets a lower bound on the operating voltage of conventional transistors – the so-called Boltzmann limit – and therefore on their energy consumption. Overcoming this limit requires developing radically new transistor technologies, which is the aim of the AttoSwitch project.
AttoSwitch aims at providing electronics with vastly improved energy efficiency at room temperature by developing a novel sub-thermionic transistor technology based on Dirac semimetals, which are innovative materials with linear dispersion relationship. The main objective is to develop a scalable technology for Dirac field-effect transistors (DFETs) based on the large-area integration of 2D and 3D Dirac materials (e.g. graphene and CoSi). The project will realize of high-performance device demonstrators at technologically relevant length scales, targeting subthreshold swing of 35 mV/decade and a switching energy of 4 attojoule. Key demonstrators will be based on graphene integrated with MoS2 and WSe2 channels, as well as novel devices featuring 3D Dirac semimetals.
The project methodology includes the development of device process modules, as well as extensive material and device characterization. Systematic modeling using new simulation frameworks will play a key part to benchmark and provide a road map for the technology. Outreach to students, training of young researchers and building international cooperation will also support Europe’s competitiveness in semiconductors.
In the project, AMO is contributing in particular to areas of:
- Nanomaterials science for the development of Dirac materials.
- Nanofabrication/semiconductor processes for the realization of device demonstrators.
- Metrology for the physical characterization of the materials.
AttoSwitch is a 42-month project funded by the European Commission and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The project is coordinated by the “Italian University Nanoelectronics Team” (IUNET consortium) with the Universities of Bologna, Modena/Reggio-Emilia and Udine as affiliated entities. Project partners are AMO GmbH (Germany), IBM Research GmbH (Switzerland), International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (Portugal), imec (Belgium) and University of Lund (Sweden).
