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CORVALLIS, Ore. - In 1965, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp., observed that the number of transistors on a circuit board doubles about every two years. Fifty years and dozens of doublings later, semiconductor technology may be approaching the limits of how small microcircuits can be.

To pack ever more data storage and processing power onto a chip, researchers at Oregon State University are experimenting with novel materials and new techniques for nano-scale lithography - the microscopic stenciling process used to trace and etch nano circuits onto a chip. The works uses an electron stimulated desorption research system in the OSU materials synthesis and characterization facility.

This and many other topics will be explored on March 4 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, when OSU doctoral student Ryan Frederick will join hundreds of other engineering graduate students at the Engineering Research Expo.

The expo will provide insights on how OSU researchers are working to solve Oregon's and the nation's most pressing challenges. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. More information and registration is available online at http://gradexpo.engineering.oregonstate.edu.

Traditionally, microcircuits have been created with processes that use thin films of organic compounds. However, Frederick is using an inorganic solution of hafnium oxide hydroxide sulfate, abbreviated as HafSOx. Another key ingredient is hydrogen peroxide, better known for bleaching hair and sanitizing cuts.

"HafSOx has been studied for about a decade here at OSU," Frederick explained. "It is an aqueous solution-based process, so there are fewer nasty chemicals. We are trying to find the right solutions that give the best resolution and sensitivity. The hydrogen peroxide is important because it works so well for inducing radiation chemistry in this inorganic system."

When HafSOx films incorporate hydrogen peroxide and are then exposed to an electron beam, researchers can define patterns just 9 nanometers wide. For comparison, a human hair is about 80,000 nm wide, and most state-of-the-art circuits are 20 nm wide.

Semiconductor fabrication uses a tremendous amount of energy. Frederick has upgraded the ESD system to better characterize the electron gun on his device and uses this gun to understand how the HafSOx reacts to streams of electrons.

"What's promising in our current research is that we can study the effects of low-energy electrons on HafSOx - an entirely new area of investigation which is relevant to future generations of nano-lithography. We are also able to use the ESD system on our center's newer films to better understand radiation induced chemistries."

Frederick's research is guided by Gregory S. Herman, an associate professor in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, and is funded by the National Science Foundation Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, which brings OSU together with the University of Oregon, Washington University at St Louis, Rutgers University, University of California Davis, and University of California Berkeley. The work is pushing the limits of materials chemistry.

"Semiconductor companies in the Portland area really do care about getting the latest technology into their fabrication," Frederick said.