Nantero, SVTC installing CMOS-friendly carbon nanotube process

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules approximately one nanometer wide and up to one millimeter long, which hold the promise for a variety of semiconductor, nanotechnology and optics applications.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 6/3/2008

To accelerate the commercialization of carbon nanotube-based electronics products, Woburn, Mass.-based carbon nanotube (CNT) semiconductor device developer Nantero Inc said it is working with semiconductor development foundry SVTC Technologies to install a “CMOS-friendly” CNT process at SVTC’s fabs in San Jose, Calif, and Austin, Texas.

The companies reminded that CNTs are cylindrical carbon molecules measuring approximately one nanometer wide and up to one millimeter long, which exhibit extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties and efficient heat conduction. With these properties, CNTs hold the promise for a variety of semiconductor, nanotechnology and optics applications and by making Nantero’s CNT process available at SVTC’s development fabs, the companies hope to allow potential Nantero licensees to develop and commercialize the use of CNTs in SVTC’s IP-secure environment.

“By placing our CNT process module at SVTC, we are now able to support multiple co-development relationships across a growing array of CMOS-grade CNT devices. Our development partners now have the opportunity to develop CNT products with us in a third-party environment utilizing state-of-the-art capabilities that will transfer efficiently to their own production environments,” Greg Schmergel, CEO of Nantero commented in a statement. SVTC noted that this collaboration fits well with its mission to allow commercialization of new process and device developments in the semiconductor, MEMS and related nanotechnology domains with support for a direct path between the work completed in SVTC’s facilities to high-volume manufacturing. The company also believes CNTs represent an ideal area for it to focus on because there is currently a gap between the promise of carbon nanotubes as demonstrated in research labs and their translation into commercial products that can be manufactured in high volumes.

The companies said they will be able to offer CNT device development capabilities for a range of applications including photovoltaic solar cells, LEDs, sensors, MEMS and other semiconductor-based devices. At the same time, in a wakeup call for nanotechnology in general and carbon nanotubes in particular, a major study published in Nature Nanotechnology suggests some forms of carbon nanotubes could be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled in sufficient quantities, according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.