The NSF-GRC Research Program: Silicon Nanoelectronics and Beyond (SNB)

The NSF-GRC Research Program: Silicon Nanoelectronics and Beyond (SNB)

The scientific and technological challenges that must be overcome to reach the limits of scaling for CMOS integrated circuits are formidable. Informed estimates are that investments in fundamental research in the United States need to be increased by roughly one order of magnitude to sustain the current rate of progress toward ultimate scaling limits. Early in 2004, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) sought to partially address this shortfall by developing a formal agreement to cooperate in the conduct of research to not only address the ultimate limits of CMOS but to also look beyond CMOS to information technologies of the future.

As part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), in 2004 and 2005, NSF conducted a cross-division initiative entitled Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) that emphasized cross-disciplinary research in a broad array of themes for nanotechnology research. Several classes of programs were defined for NSE including Nano-Science and Engineering Centers (NSEC’s), Nano-Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT’s), and Nano-Exploratory Research (NER’s) to fund research in the defined themes. The Memorandum of Understanding developed between NSF and SRC provided mechanisms for cooperation in the NSE program by SRC in a manner that is not invasive to NSF policies and procedures. The elements of the agreement are:

•GRC is to provide input to NSF for possible use in the NSE solicitation that outlines research challenges in Silicon Nanoelectronics and Beyond
•GRC provides a contact list of suggested industry expert reviewers who agree to serve on proposal selection panels if requested to do so by NSF Program Managers
•GRC agrees to review the selected awards, to contact the recipients, deemed to be conducting research relevant to the SNB theme, and offer the opportunity to awardees for voluntary participation in GRC technology transfer processes, i.e.
◦GRC will provide mechanisms to list the NSE project and subsequent outcomes in its database for easy access by GRC industry members
◦GRC will offer to identify industry ‘friends of the research’ (called Industrial Liaisons in GRC vernacular) to aid the faculty and students in the conduct of their research
◦GRC will offer the opportunity for NSE-awarded faculty to participate in GRC thematic reviews to obtain broad industry feedback on their projects
◦GRC maintains the option to co-fund NSE projects if desired
•Program oversight is maintained by the SNB Guidance Committee consisting of the SRC Office of the Chief Executive and senior NSF Managers

To date, over $20M in annual research conducted under the auspices of the NSE program has been identified by GRC as relevant to the SNB theme and these faculty have been offered the opportunity to engage with GRC along the lines outlined above. The NSE 2006 program has been reduced in scope, involves only the Engineering Division, and has been re-named Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems (ANN). The solicitation for ANN was posted June 7, 2006. However, there is an opportunity at this time to broaden the scope of the SNB program to include the core NSF programs. Discussions on how this might be done are underway with the National Science Foundation.