Existing semiconductor and display manufacturing processes could benefit from using assembly techniques copied from biology, according to a US start-up.

The technology could have a role to play at the 32nm process node, and might eventually be used to build functional electronic devices.

“Our aim is to introduce materials that people can use in existing manufacturing facilities, and use those materials to deposit thin films of materials that they cannot currently deposit, or that cannot be deposited cost effectively because they have to use vacuum processes,” said Hash Pakbaz, v-p of business development at Cambrios Technologies.

Cambrios is developing techniques that use peptides, the building blocks of proteins, to selectively bind particles of semiconductor and metal.

The self-aligning behaviour of the peptide can then be used to direct where, and in what orientation, the material is deposited on a heterogeneous surface. The binding is so specific that it can be used to choose only a certain crystal shape, to improve electronic properties.

The company is targeting both the semiconductor and displays industries, offering a means of depositing layers of material that self-assemble into the required pattern from the solution phase, under ambient temperature and pressure. The promise is that the science could extend to constructing more sophisticated electronics.

However, there are still distinct problems associated with making the jump from depositing materials with some degree of control, to creating actual devices. For example, some researchers are trying to control chains of mis-folded proteins called amyloid fibres in order to ‘grow’ circuits.

“The use of self-assembling peptide fibres can be technically quite difficult, so I think it’s a slow-moving process, but it is still progressing,” said Dr Glyn Devlin, who is investigating amyloids at the University of Cambridge. “Having an understanding of how they form is a key to using them as a nano scaffold.”

www.cambrios.com