South Korean and Singaporean scientists develop new technology to grow chip production

Scientists at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technique for fabricating highly uniform and scalable semiconductor wafers.

According to the latest report, semiconductor chips commonly used in smartphones and computers are difficult and complex to manufacture, requiring highly advanced machines and special environments.

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Their fabrication is usually done on silicon wafers, which are then cut into small chips for use in devices. The process is imperfect, however, and not all chips from the same wafer work or perform as expected. These defective chips are discarded, reducing semiconductor yields while increasing production costs.

Therefore the ability to produce uniform wafers at the desired thickness is the most important factor in ensuring the correct functioning of every chip fabricated on the same wafer.

Moreover, Nanotransfer -based printing, a process in which a polymer mold is used to print metal onto a substrate by pressure or “stamping,” has become a promising option in recent years due to its simplicity, relative cost-effectiveness, and high throughput future technology.

However, the technology uses a chemical adhesive layer that can cause negative effects, such as surface defects and performance degradation in large-scale printing, as well as hazards to human health. For these reasons, the mass adoption of the technology and the use of the resulting chips in devices has been limited.

Furthermore, the technique developed by scientists from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) was published in the journal ACS Nano, and they report that their chemical-free printing technique can be used when combined with metal-assisted chemistry.

When combined with etching, a semiconductor wafer with highly uniform and scalable nanowires can be obtained. The semiconductor also has improved performance compared to chips currently on the market. In addition, the method has a fast fabrication speed and a high chip yield.

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