Microelectronics for Society: More than Moore" expands "More Moore"

Scope

Over the past 50 years, silicon has become the predominant material of choice for manufacturing integrated circuit technologies. Indeed, progress in microelectronics over the past half century closely followed Moore´s famous 1965 prediction that the number of components in Si integrated circuits will approximately double every eighteen to twenty-four months. This scaling law is based on the miniaturization of Si devices and is driven by technical and economical laws: Scaling not only improves performance but makes each individual Si CMOS chip increasingly cheaper to manufacture. However, with Si technologies going from micro- to nanoelectronics, further progress in device scaling comes with a tremendous increase in investment costs for achieving the commercialization of the next-generation technology node. Rock´s law in economics predicts that the costs of tools used in the fabrication of aggressively scaled Si integrated circuits will double every 48 months. Consequently, this economic turmoil results in the fact that fewer and fewer integrated circuit manufacturers are managing to keep pace with the development described as “More Moore”. However, adding value to CMOS technology today can still be possible, even if the scaling process comes to a halt. This so-called “More than Moore” approach is based on the computing power and the high level of system integration of established CMOS technologies, which are being further functionalized by integrating additional new functions. These functional modules are very often realized by the integration of new materials such as alternative semiconductors into mainstream Si CMOS technologies. Examples range from high-frequency / high-power modules for wireless data communication featuring high speeds and wide ranges to Si photonics for the development of biochip applications. It will take a productive interaction of “More Moore” (i.e. an increase of CMOS circuitry computing power) and “More than Moore” (i.e. the diversification of Si circuitries) approaches before the focus of higher-value Si microelectronics can be shifted from supporting technology to supporting society.

The international Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Physics School will offer tutorials with 14 internationally acknowledged scientists and experts to teach young scientists about research and career opportunities in these rapidly developing materials science and technology engineering fields of advanced Si microelectronics. Furthermore, the potential impact of these upcoming technologies on daily life in modern society will be discussed in detail.

The organizers are grateful to the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation for financial support.