SUMMARY FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY (STS) DR.

CARLO ARCILLA MHY MICROELECTRONICS AND PHOTONICS Definitions: Microelectronics the branch of electronics that emphasizes the miniaturization of both individual electronic components and complete electronic circuits. Integrated Circuit (IC) composed of an electronic circuit fabricated by a complex series of production steps in a semiconductor chip, a thin slice of a semiconducting material such as silicon or germanium that measures a few millimeters on a side; - produced cheaper when compared to the circuitry it replaces because its individual components can be formed within the same semiconductor matrix, thus the need for conventional interconnection wires and protective packages is eliminated; - possesses at least one dimension of about 1 to 100 nanometers; - designed using processes that exhibit fundamental control over the physical and chemical attributes of molecular-scale structures; - May be combined to form larger systems or structures. Photolithography - technology used to fabricate circuits on microchips - can be modified to produce nanometer-scale structures Optical Fiber - a thread of purest glass, five-thousandth of an inch in diameter through which laser light of high purity and intensity can be transmitted. - cost effective because of high capacity, efficiency and small size; - free from EM interference MICROELECTRONICS Trends in Microelectronics: Different technology generations based on the number of devices resulted from the miniaturization drive. These devices could actually be crammed into a single silicon chip: 1. 2. 3. 4. Small scale Integration (SSI) possesses less than twenty transistors Medium scale Integration (MSI) possesses up to one hundred transistors Large scale Integration (LSI) possesses more than a thousand transistors Very large scale Integration (VLSI) exists in the present era with microchips containing around 10 million individual devices

The number of electronic devices that can be integrated on chips is continually doubling every eighteen months, and this trend is expected to continue. This serves as a challenge to the mechanical and materials engineers who must continuously search for solutions to reliability concerns that may crop up due to the popularity of thinner chips. In addition, chips containing a large number of devices will dissipate more energy because of higher operating frequencies (in the neighborhood of 200 MHz and above). These concerns will strongly rely on the chip designs, materials and manufacturing technologies. Future Developments for Microelectronics: Due to the innovations in microelectronics, we enjoy greater computer power and shortage capacity at lower cost. In the last few years, complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology has replaced over other applications that used to be the domain of bipolar devices. This trend is expected to continue as CMOS and bipolar CMOS or BICMOS technologies penetrate the intermediate systems. Domination of high performance and supercomputer system applications in the supercomputer field will continue to be with bipolar emitter-logic (ECL).

On the other hand, there is an increasing albeit, limited trend for using gallium arsenide (GaAs) in the supercomputer field. The limitation is due to the availability of the appropriate software to operate extremely fast systems and advantages may also be lost because of packaging and interconnection delays. A possible offshoot of the IC technology is Nanoelectronics or the application of devices based on ballistic transistors and single-electron devices. This technology is also based on quantum mechanics. Photolithography The photolithography process involves three major steps: Photo Resist coating, exposure and developing. In order to achieve high resolution, photolithography also has a lot of baking and chilling steps. The older-manual process involved eight stages: wafer clean, pre-bake, spin-coating primer and PR, soft bake, alignment and exposure, developing, pattern inspection and hard bake. For the advanced lithography process, the three basic steps are still the same. The nanofabrication method can be divided into two categories: top-down methods (which carve out or add aggregates of molecules to a surface) and bottom-up methods that assemble atoms or molecules into nanostructures.
Nanofabrication Methods Photolithography Advantages - Familiar to the electronics industry; - Manufacturers can modify the technique by using electron beams, x-rays and extreme ultraviolet (UV) rays Disadvantages - modifications to produce nanometer-scale structures are expensive and technically difficult; - the process using electron beams is costly and slow; - x-rays and extreme UV rays can damage the equipment used in the process - the process is too slow for mass production; - applications will be probably limited to the fabrication of specialized devices - not ideal for manufacturing multilayered structures of electronic devices

Scanning Probe methods

Soft Lithography

Bottoms-up Method

- Scanning tunneling microscope and the atomic forces microscope can be used to move individual nanoparticles and arrange them in patterns; Patterns created by electron-beam lithography may be reduced inexpensively; - requires no special equipment and can be carried out by hand in an ordinary laboratory - Due to controlled chemical reactions, atoms/molecules can be cheaply and easily assembled into smallest nanostructures having dimensions from 2 10 NM.

- not well-suited for building electronic devices like micro chips because these methods cannot produce designed and interconnected patterns

B.PHOTONICS

Photons can do many things better than electrons. Light beams practically have unlimited information capacity, low transmission losses, non-dissipation of heat and immunity to cross talk and electromagnetic interference. Thus, it is highly probable that optoelectronics and photonics in the future will replace microelectronics. Although light wave communications technology has been used commercially for more than twenty years, it was only during the 90s when a dramatic increase in the use of photonics was observed. This was due to the cost reductions that came about as a result of performance requirements and technology.

Today, applications of photonics engineering may be classified into two areas: information and materials processing. Information includes communications, sensing and display of information, computing, processing and storing information. Materials processing on the other hand include the following: cutting, joining, and machining (inclusive of surgery and patterning). Photonics-based devices may also be used in the generation of power. In telecommunications, the shift is from use of copper wire networks to fiber optics, and optical disks have become the major means of storing information. In particular, photonics dominates displays and cameras, and is extensively used in printing. Key features of Photonics that fueled Progress: 1. Creation of ultra pure glass fibers that can alternate optical signals by no more than 0.2 dB/kmi 2. 2. Invention and development of reliable diode lasers 3. Invention of erbium-doped optical amplifiers Major Photonics Technologies: 1. Optical Fibers 2. Semiconductor optoelectronic devices (light sources and defectors) 3. Optical storage media 4. Cathode ray fibers and liquid crystals 5. High power lasers for materials processing DISCUSSION ON PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY: Fiber Optics Historical Perspective (Parallel Developments in Fiber Optics and Light Sources): - Alexander Graham Bell made the initial suggestion to use light to transmit sound; - In the early1960s, the laser was first conceived; in 1966, scientists at Standard Telecommunications Laboratories showed that a fiber of high-silica glass could transmit 1 percent of the light energy over a distance of 1 kilometer In 1970, just after the demo of the first graded-index fibers, the first gallium-arsenide lasers were emerging to provide a source of light more satisfactory than gas lasers first considered. - by mid-1970s, technologies of the fibers and lasers converged: - Lasers emitting at wavelengths equal to 800-900 nm were projecting into gradedindex fibers (First Window Systems) - More efficient fibers having lower losses and greater bandwidths were found; - Addition of indium and phosphorus to GaAs lasers made them operate in the 10001600 nm region (Second Window Systems) - Fibers were designed that would operate at a wavelength between the two window systems initially discovered. - Third window systems were being developed that will have higher info-carrying capacity.
Problems in Light Sourcing: SCATTERING ABSORPTION Cause/Description: caused by irregularities such as temp variations in the mix caused mainly by impurities eg. ions of Fe, Cu, Co, Va and Cr Solution: can be controlled largely during manufacturing process Vapor Deposition -- results to production of extremely pure fiber

Types of Fibers Developed: 1.Step-index fiber: simplest optical fiber that operates based on the principle of total internal reflection; possesses limited info-carrying capacity. 2.Graded-index fiber: an alternative proposed to correct the limitation of the step-index fiber; the light rays travel in smooth, curving paths, thus info is less distorted.

3.Monomode Fiber: as another solution to the step-index fiber problems, fibers were developed that have a reduced core diameter with respect to the wavelength of the transmitted light. Thus, the light moves down the fiber in a straight line with very low distortion.

Technical Issues
Parallel developments between light sourcing and fiber optics. Choice of the switching methods by which information is channeled to individual users Idea of transmitting through a singl e fiber signals from several lasers at different wavelengths Choice between using digital or analog transmission

Applications: Medicine
- Optical fibers are inserted through natural openings or small incisions in the body and threaded through established pathways so physicians may peer into the human system for diagnostic purposes. - They are even utilized for internal and external body surgeries and therapy - Used for imaging purposes and sensors

Fiber Optics: IMPACT ON LIVES increased capacity to move words, pictures and data from place to place communications cable ways have been relieved previously complex databanks have become accessible to anyone with a personal computer vast amounts of info may be exchanged at modest costs

MICROELECTRONICS FROM A THIRD WORLDS PERSPECTIVE

The increasing gap between developed and developing countries is the result of the traditional industries moving toward a technology category that is heavily based on research, development and science. Science and technology are becoming the underlying base of industrial production, determinants of its structure and output consequently increasing the base of wealth creation. There is a need for joint efforts in order to mitigate the growing gap between developed and developing countries in areas such as science and technology. There should be joint efforts in developing technological and scientific assessment and forecasting in areas that are likely to affect developing countries and the international division of labor; a common information policy and in obtaining preferential treatment for access to data banks and data bases.

Prepared by: Group 8 MHY