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Technology and metrology of new electronic materials and devices

Nature Nanotechnology volume 2, pages 25–32 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Scaling of the metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistor has been the basis of the semiconductor industry for nearly 30 years. Traditional materials have been pushed to their limits, which means that entirely new materials (such as high-κ gate dielectrics and metal gate electrodes), and new device structures are required. These materials and structures will probably allow MOS devices to remain competitive for at least another ten years. Beyond this timeframe, entirely new device structures (such as nanowire or molecular devices) and computational paradigms will almost certainly be needed to improve performance. The development of new nanoscale electronic devices and materials places increasingly stringent requirements on metrology.

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Figure 1: Moore's Law and scaling of transistor dimensions.
Figure 2: Illustrations of silicon transistors.
Figure 4: The structure of silicon quantum dots.
Figure 5: The importance of compositional metrology.
Figure 6: Does the molecule matter?
Figure 3: Simulation of a finFET.

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the support of the Jonsson School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas, the NIST Office of Microelectronics Programs, and the NIST Semiconductor Electronics Division. Contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is not subject to US copyright. The author would like to thank Curt Richter, Steve Knight, David Seiler and Erik Secula for careful reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2601 North Floyd Road, Richardson, 75083, Texas, USA

    Eric Vogel

  2. Semiconductor Electronics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8120, Gaithersburg, 2089, Maryland, USA

    Eric Vogel

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Vogel, E. Technology and metrology of new electronic materials and devices. Nature Nanotech 2, 25–32 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2006.142

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