WHAT
DOES
THE
FUTURE
HOLD?
The integration of graphene into
How can graphene be successfully integrated into the semiconductor
the semiconductor industry will
require a deep understanding
ecosystem? John Tingay explains of how this material behaves, how
to manipulate it in a fabrication
environment and how to employ
existing processes to maximise
the unique properties of graphene.
The commercial nature of the
semiconductor industry dictates that
these technical challenges need to
be met and overcome in a way that is
viable and which offers a significant
performance advantage.
The properties of graphene and
its potential use, has occupied
engineering minds for a decade
and a half. Apart from its tensile
strength, its conductivity is an order
of magnitude higher than copper and
its thermal conductivity surpasses
any other material currently used in
engineering – and all these attributes
from an allotrope of carbon at
just one atom thick. Manipulating
graphene in a way that is compatible
with standard fabrication processes
could be the first significant waypoint
in fully exploiting these properties in
the semiconductor industry.
Paragraf has successfully
developed a deposition process
that enables just that and we have
proven the technology through the
development and volume production
of the world’s highest performance
Hall Effect sensor.
Attention is inevitably turning
to how graphene can be further
integrated into the semiconductor
ecosystem. The goal here is to use
graphene in ways that complement
existing materials, processes, and
equipment. It needs to be disruptive
to the target markets, rather
than attempt to disrupt the entire
manufacturing supply chain.
It is the economies of scale
that make semiconductor devices
commercially viable, and graphene
needs to fit into that model to effect
transformation; not change the model
to suit its own methods.
This is perhaps an even greater
challenge than developing a way
to produce graphene as a twodimensional
material.
Paragraf has successfully
achieved the fabrication of graphene
and is now working on ways to
bring its technology to the wider
semiconductor industry.
The Solid-State Device
Perhaps the end goal here is to
create large scale integrated logic
devices based on a graphene
transistor. That would move the
needle on processor design so
far that we could achieve higher
clockspeeds with considerably
lower heat loads. There are many
researchers working on this, Paragraf
included, but realistically the many
and wide-ranging technology needed
to realise this vision is still a
significant way off.
However, the wider use of
graphene in solid-state devices is very
much happening now and the recently
developed Hall effect current sensor
proves that.
Making graphene another stage in
standard silicon fabrication processes
is where the immediate opportunities
exist. These solid-state devices will
exploit graphene’s known properties,
using it in place of other materials or,
in conjunction with device structures
shown in basic research, to open
new product areas for the integrated
device manufacturers.
Some of the most speculated
topics for early areas of graphene
adoption in electronics have
been to overcome challenges in
thermal management by increasing
conductivity and providing high
thermal conductivity. It is important
to also point out that graphene
has other useful properties: it does
not cause contamination in silicon
processes; it is virtually impervious
to electro-static discharge (ESD), and
it is inherently radiation-hard. This
makes it suitable for use in integrated
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