Bell Labs claims semiconductor breakthrough

Citation

(2002), "Bell Labs claims semiconductor breakthrough", Microelectronics International, Vol. 19 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/mi.2002.21819cab.015

Bell Labs claims semiconductor breakthrough

Keywords: Bell Labs, Semiconductors

Scientists at Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies Inc., have found a way to peer deep inside a semiconductor and create an image of a single impurity atom in silicon, a development that will help scientists understand how impurities affect the properties of microchips.

This understanding of semiconductors at the atomic level is critical in devising manufacturing technologies needed to shrink the size of future generations of high-speed electronics, such as microprocessors, in a bid to keep Moore's Law on track.

This is the first time that an individual impurity has been pictured in its undisturbed state within a crystal and was achieved using a special electron microscope, Bell Labs said, adding that such a feat is as difficult as seeing a footprint on the surface of the moon.