Request for Proposals:
Novel Technologies for Information Processing

The 2003 edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) predicts that conventional CMOS technology will be extended through the 22 nm node before technology scaling will slow down or perhaps stop. Further, there is a growing consensus that as CMOS scaling slows, information processing technology increasingly will consist of a heterogeneous set of novel and widely disparate logic technologies integrated on a silicon platform consisting of very fast, very small and very cheap CMOS devices. The novel devices may span a very broad range of materials, operational principles, functionalities, logic systems, data representations and architectures. However, a critical analysis of emerging research logic devices extending information processing beyond CMOS, presented in a section of this ITRS entitled, "Emerging Research Devices," suggests that most extant approaches to these new logic devices are quite limited in their potential performance and/or technology risk.

Semiconductor Research Corporation is seeking proposals from the U.S. and international university community for unrestricted 1-year research grants. These proposals should offer new approaches for logic technologies that potentially extend information processing orders of magnitude to new domains of performance defined by functional density, energy efficiency, scalability, etc., and that will be compatible with CMOS (technologically and/or functionally). The proposal should identify the scheme for information processing offered and should propose work the research team will perform to substantively project the performance, energy efficiency, and scaling potential of the proposed approach. Further, the proposal should identify those most important technical/technology barriers to realizing the full potential of the proposed approach. Research components could include new materials, new materials growth and fabrication technologies, and novel devices and system architectural concepts.

The proposal should contain a clear, concise description of the physical concepts proposed and should identify and discuss the known technical challenges. The proposal should also contain estimates of the eventual potential of the proposed approach based on simple, first order analysis. The level of effort of these grants is anticipated to be a principal investigator collaborating with an additional 2 - 4 research staff. Near the conclusion of this 1-year research program, SRC intends to invite the funded research teams to offer proposals for a follow-on 3-year research contract to pursue reduction of the most important technical barriers to realizing the potential of the proposed approach.

• Novel Device Research Needs

Please direct your technical questions to Jim Hutchby, Director, Director of Devices Sciences at (hutchby@src.org). All other questions and responses should be directed to Jennifer Minor (jennifer.minor@src.org)