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HP Licenses NIL Technology

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PALO ALTO, Calif., May 2, 2007 -- HP said today it is beginning to reap returns from its 10-year investment in nanoscale electronics with the licensing of technology that could enable the fabrication of semiconductor chips "significantly more powerful than those available today."

The technology involves a process called nanoimprint lithography (NIL) -- a method of literally stamping out patterns of wires less than 50 atoms wide on a substrate. HP Labs researchers have created patented NIL technology that has enabled the fabrication of laboratory prototype circuits with wire widths of 15 nanometers -- about one-third the dimension of the features in the most advanced circuits that will be commercially available this year.

Once the NIL “master” is created, copies can be stamped out quickly and inexpensively, like manufacturing CDs or phonograph records. The patterns are then filled in with metals for the wires.

HP has licensed the technology to Nanolithosolutions Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., which has developed a tool based on HP’s technology. The tool consists of a module that fits into a mask aligner. The module is used to create the patterns for wires and transistors on a substrate. HP said the tool is simple and inexpensive to use and turns commonly available mask aligners into high-resolution NIL machines. The technology is also being offered to others through HP’s intellectual property licensing organization.

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“By building on HP’s extensive research in nanoimprint lithography, we believe we have a tool that will enable reliable, repeatable processes for exploring biochips, photonics chips and many other applications,” said Bo Pi, CEO of Nanolithosolutions. “We believe this will be an extremely useful tool for academic and commercial users worldwide, because it will be about a tenth the cost of current technology.”

Nanolithosolutions was created by Pi and Yong Chen, a UCLA professor and former member of HP Labs. HP also has an equity stake in the company. Further details of the arrangements were not disclosed.

“Because HP and other companies need unique tools to conduct nanoscale research and development, we created the underlying technology that makes this tool possible,” said Stan Williams, HP senior fellow and director, Quantum Science Research, HP Labs. “But we rely on innovative companies like Nanolithosolutions to do the additional engineering necessary to make user-friendly tools commercially available. This will help create future generations of chips that will go beyond the capabilities of today’s fabrication technologies at an affordable cost.”

For more information on HP’s intellectual property licensing program, visit: www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/iplicensing/


Published: May 2007
Glossary
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
nanoimprint lithography
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a nanolithography technique used for fabricating nanoscale patterns on a substrate. It is a high-resolution, high-throughput process that involves the mechanical deformation of a resist material on a substrate to create the desired nanostructures. The process is similar to traditional embossing, where a mold or template is pressed into a material to replicate a pattern. Here are the key elements and steps involved in nanoimprint lithography: Template/mold...
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
BiophotonicsHewlett PackardHPHP Labsindustrialnanonanoimprint lithographyNews & FeaturesNILpatent licensingphotonicsPhotonics Spectrasemiconductor chips

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