AttoSwitch has received funding from the European Commmission (EC) under Grant Agreement N°101135571.
About AttoSwitch
The Scenario
Global energy demand for information and communication technologies may reach up to 20% of total energy by the end of the decade. Innovations on transistor technologies, following Moore’s law, can in part compensate for this rise and improve sustainability by providing more energy-efficient electronics. However, the energy-efficiency of CMOS is limited by the Boltzmann physics, which sets a lower bound on the operating voltage, and thereby the power. To sustain miniaturization, and improved performance of electronics, new transistor technologies that can overcome this limit are needed.
The Goal
AttoSwitch aims to develop a scalable Dirac transistor technology based on large-area integration of 2D and 3D Dirac materials, e.g. graphene and CoSi, and the realization of high-performance device demonstrators at technologically relevant length scales.
The Impact
AttoSwitch will impact the semiconductor supply chain at the technology and materials levels, and provide ultra-energy-efficient transistors for logic and high-frequency analog integrated chip markets. Outreach to students, training of young researchers and building international cooperation will also support Europe’s competitiveness in semiconductors.
The Moore's Law
Moore’s law postulates that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit will double every 1 to 2 years with associated reductions in cost per device.
This has indeed been the observed historical trend in semiconductor technologies and continues today as well, but it is slowing down and it is uncertain how long it will last.
To preserve constant power density in integrated circuits, transistors must then switch with an energy of only one attojoule.
AttoSwitch will develop technologies to drive future
reductions of FET switching energy. The project aims
to break the Boltzmann limit by realizing a novel
subthermionic transistor technology and provide
electronics with vastly improved energy efficiency
at room temperature.
Outcomes
Reduction of global ICT energy consumption → large decrease within the next decade.
Greener electronics → tons of CO2 emissions are foreseen from data centers by 2030. AttoSwitch new technology's expectations in terms of CO2 emissions is a a huge reduction for data centers alone.
Improved computing power -→ Improved energy efficiency of Dirac technologies enables further Moore’s law miniaturization.
