All good things must come to an end. And so it is with the exponential progress in semiconductor performance on which the world has relied for the past decades. Further significant progress requires fundamental research. To explore the types of research Berkeley Lab may explore, a Lab group called the Beyond Moore’s Law Journal Club, led by Dilip Vasudevan (Computational Research Division) and Shyam Dwaraknath (Applied Energy Materials Group), is hosting monthly lectures by influencers in semiconductor research.
Working with Dilip and Shyam on the lecture series are the Materials Sciences Division’s Ramamoorthy Ramesh, who co-leads the Lab’s Beyond Moore’s Law initiative with affiliate scientist Dan Armbrust, who has run consortia for the semiconductor industry. Also part of the effort are the following initiative members: Computational Research Division’s John Shalf, Materials Sciences Division’s Peter Fischer, Lane Martin, and Patrick Naulleau, and the Advanced Light Source’s Eli Rotenberg.
“With the easy gains of Moore’s Law coming to an end, there is a clear and pressing need to return to fundamental science to enable future innovation,” said Dan.
The next era of semiconductor devices will likely involve new materials, spintronics, operating devices, and analog practices, including approaches that are very different from charge-based technology. Berkeley Lab, with its breadth and depth of expertise, can play a critical role in the nation’s R&D effort. With its strengths in materials science to computer science, state-of-the-art user facilities, and industry partnerships, the Lab is well-placed to help lead the charge in microelectronics research that can revolutionize the semiconductor industry once again.
“The lectures will help stimulate thinking and discussion on a number of key areas, including those related to materials discovery, synthesis, and characterization; computational discovery and device simulations; scale-up; and system architecture and algorithms,” said Dilip.
The first Beyond Moore’s Law Distinguished Lecture this year was on January 15, featuring Bernard Dieny, an expert in spintronics. On January 29, Dmitri Nikonov from Intel will talk about the potential of coupled oscillator technology, a radical new approach to computing.
“Conversations with thought leaders and industry voices will help the Lab community better understand the problems and opportunities facing microelectronics,” said Dan. “Together we have a great opportunity to go back to the drawing board for research to take us to the next revolution in computing power.”
