EU-Funded Project 14ACMOS: PI Contributes to Technology Node Development for Semiconductor Manufacturing
High-end microchips manufactured using 3 nm technology are the current state of the art. Manufacturing technologies for the 2 nm technology node are expected to be available as early as next year and for 1.4 nm, i.e., 14 angstroms, by 2027.
To achieve this goal, the European Union promotes the development of this next technology node for semiconductor production with the 14ACMOS project. This 95-million-euro research project, co-funded by the European Union, is also supported by the “Joint Undertaking for Chips” (Chips JU). PI participates in the research program by developing high-precision positioning systems with accuracies of less than one millionth of a millimeter. The project is coordinated by ASML, the Dutch world leader in lithography systems for semiconductor manufacturing. A total of twenty-five partners from six countries are involved.
The positioning systems to be developed as part of the 14ACMOS project must also function precisely and highly dynamically under vacuum conditions in order to be economically viable. PI has been a system partner to the semiconductor industry for decades and is represented worldwide with positioning systems in a wide range of areas of semiconductor production. The products are already in use in areas such as lithography and metrology for quality control.
Background Information on Project Naming
The project name 14ACMOS refers to CMOS semiconductor components (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) with structure widths of 14 angstroms. The angstrom scale is often used to describe atomic distances. One angstrom is equal to one ten millionth of a millimeter or 0.1 nanometers (nm). In comparison: A human hair is about 80,000 nanometers thick.
Further information on this project can be found on the article from the official EU webpage on research and development projects.
Contact persons:
- Mathias Winter, Head of Piezo Drives & Systems Technology
- Dr. Christian Rudolf, Director Technology Center Drives & Systems