The self-assembling computer chips of the future
-
0:01 - 0:05Computers used to be as big as a room.
-
0:05 - 0:06But now they fit in your pocket,
-
0:06 - 0:08on your wrist
-
0:08 - 0:11and can even be implanted
inside of your body. -
0:11 - 0:12How cool is that?
-
0:13 - 0:17And this has been enabled
by the miniaturization of transistors, -
0:17 - 0:20which are the tiny switches
in the circuits -
0:20 - 0:21at the heart of our computers.
-
0:22 - 0:25And it's been achieved
through decades of development -
0:25 - 0:28and breakthroughs
in science and engineering -
0:28 - 0:31and of billions of dollars of investment.
-
0:31 - 0:34But it's given us
vast amounts of computing, -
0:34 - 0:36huge amounts of memory
-
0:36 - 0:41and the digital revolution
that we all experience and enjoy today. -
0:42 - 0:44But the bad news is,
-
0:44 - 0:48we're about to hit a digital roadblock,
-
0:48 - 0:52as the rate of miniaturization
of transistors is slowing down. -
0:52 - 0:55And this is happening
at exactly the same time -
0:55 - 0:59as our innovation in software
is continuing relentlessly -
0:59 - 1:03with artificial intelligence and big data.
-
1:03 - 1:08And our devices regularly perform
facial recognition or augment our reality -
1:08 - 1:12or even drive cars down
our treacherous, chaotic roads. -
1:13 - 1:14It's amazing.
-
1:15 - 1:19But if we don't keep up
with the appetite of our software, -
1:19 - 1:23we could reach a point
in the development of our technology -
1:23 - 1:27where the things that we could do
with software could, in fact, be limited -
1:27 - 1:29by our hardware.
-
1:29 - 1:34We've all experienced the frustration
of an old smartphone or tablet -
1:34 - 1:37grinding slowly to a halt over time
-
1:37 - 1:41under the ever-increasing weight
of software updates and new features. -
1:41 - 1:44And it worked just fine
when we bought it not so long ago. -
1:44 - 1:49But the hungry software engineers
have eaten up all the hardware capacity -
1:49 - 1:50over time.
-
1:52 - 1:55The semiconductor industry
is very well aware of this -
1:56 - 1:59and is working on
all sorts of creative solutions, -
1:59 - 2:04such as going beyond transistors
to quantum computing -
2:04 - 2:08or even working with transistors
in alternative architectures -
2:08 - 2:10such as neural networks
-
2:10 - 2:13to make more robust
and efficient circuits. -
2:13 - 2:17But these approaches
will take quite some time, -
2:17 - 2:21and we're really looking for a much more
immediate solution to this problem. -
2:23 - 2:28The reason why the rate of miniaturization
of transistors is slowing down -
2:28 - 2:32is due to the ever-increasing complexity
of the manufacturing process. -
2:33 - 2:36The transistor used to be
a big, bulky device, -
2:36 - 2:40until the invent of the integrated circuit
-
2:40 - 2:42based on pure crystalline silicon wafers.
-
2:43 - 2:46And after 50 years
of continuous development, -
2:46 - 2:49we can now achieve
transistor features dimensions -
2:49 - 2:52down to 10 nanometers.
-
2:52 - 2:55You can fit more than
a billion transistors -
2:55 - 2:58in a single square millimeter of silicon.
-
2:58 - 3:00And to put this into perspective:
-
3:00 - 3:04a human hair is 100 microns across.
-
3:04 - 3:07A red blood cell,
which is essentially invisible, -
3:07 - 3:08is eight microns across,
-
3:08 - 3:12and you can place 12 across
the width of a human hair. -
3:12 - 3:16But a transistor, in comparison,
is much smaller, -
3:16 - 3:19at a tiny fraction of a micron across.
-
3:19 - 3:23You could place more than 260 transistors
-
3:23 - 3:25across a single red blood cell
-
3:25 - 3:29or more than 3,000 across
the width of a human hair. -
3:30 - 3:34It really is incredible nanotechnology
in your pocket right now. -
3:35 - 3:37And besides the obvious benefit
-
3:37 - 3:41of being able to place more,
smaller transistors on a chip, -
3:42 - 3:45smaller transistors are faster switches,
-
3:46 - 3:51and smaller transistors are also
more efficient switches. -
3:51 - 3:53So this combination has given us
-
3:53 - 3:57lower cost, higher performance
and higher efficiency electronics -
3:57 - 3:59that we all enjoy today.
-
4:02 - 4:05To manufacture these integrated circuits,
-
4:05 - 4:08the transistors are built up
layer by layer, -
4:08 - 4:11on a pure crystalline silicon wafer.
-
4:11 - 4:14And in an oversimplified sense,
-
4:14 - 4:18every tiny feature
of the circuit is projected -
4:18 - 4:20onto the surface of the silicon wafer
-
4:20 - 4:24and recorded in a light-sensitive material
-
4:24 - 4:27and then etched through
the light-sensitive material -
4:27 - 4:30to leave the pattern
in the underlying layers. -
4:31 - 4:35And this process has been
dramatically improved over the years -
4:35 - 4:37to give the electronics
performance we have today. -
4:38 - 4:42But as the transistor features
get smaller and smaller, -
4:42 - 4:45we're really approaching
the physical limitations -
4:45 - 4:47of this manufacturing technique.
-
4:49 - 4:52The latest systems
for doing this patterning -
4:52 - 4:54have become so complex
-
4:54 - 4:59that they reportedly cost
more than 100 million dollars each. -
4:59 - 5:03And semiconductor factories
contain dozens of these machines. -
5:03 - 5:07So people are seriously questioning:
Is this approach long-term viable? -
5:08 - 5:12But we believe we can do
this chip manufacturing -
5:12 - 5:16in a totally different
and much more cost-effective way -
5:17 - 5:21using molecular engineering
and mimicking nature -
5:21 - 5:25down at the nanoscale dimensions
of our transistors. -
5:25 - 5:30As I said, the conventional manufacturing
takes every tiny feature of the circuit -
5:30 - 5:32and projects it onto the silicon.
-
5:33 - 5:36But if you look at the structure
of an integrated circuit, -
5:36 - 5:38the transistor arrays,
-
5:38 - 5:41many of the features are repeated
millions of times. -
5:41 - 5:44It's a highly periodic structure.
-
5:44 - 5:47So we want to take advantage
of this periodicity -
5:47 - 5:50in our alternative
manufacturing technique. -
5:50 - 5:54We want to use self-assembling materials
-
5:54 - 5:57to naturally form the periodic structures
-
5:57 - 5:59that we need for our transistors.
-
6:00 - 6:02We do this with the materials,
-
6:02 - 6:06then the materials do the hard work
of the fine patterning, -
6:06 - 6:11rather than pushing the projection
technology to its limits and beyond. -
6:12 - 6:16Self-assembly is seen in nature
in many different places, -
6:16 - 6:19from lipid membranes to cell structures,
-
6:19 - 6:22so we do know it can be a robust solution.
-
6:22 - 6:26If it's good enough for nature,
it should be good enough for us. -
6:27 - 6:31So we want to take this naturally
occurring, robust self-assembly -
6:31 - 6:35and use it for the manufacturing
of our semiconductor technology. -
6:37 - 6:40One type of self-assemble material --
-
6:40 - 6:43it's called a block co-polymer --
-
6:43 - 6:47consists of two polymer chains
just a few tens of nanometers in length. -
6:47 - 6:50But these chains hate each other.
-
6:50 - 6:51They repel each other,
-
6:51 - 6:55very much like oil and water
or my teenage son and daughter. -
6:55 - 6:56(Laughter)
-
6:56 - 6:59But we cruelly bond them together,
-
6:59 - 7:02creating an inbuilt
frustration in the system, -
7:02 - 7:04as they try to separate from each other.
-
7:05 - 7:08And in the bulk material,
there are billions of these, -
7:08 - 7:11and the similar components
try to stick together, -
7:11 - 7:14and the opposing components
try to separate from each other -
7:14 - 7:15at the same time.
-
7:15 - 7:19And this has a built-in frustration,
a tension in the system. -
7:19 - 7:23So it moves around, it squirms
until a shape is formed. -
7:24 - 7:28And the natural self-assembled shape
that is formed is nanoscale, -
7:28 - 7:32it's regular, it's periodic,
and it's long range, -
7:32 - 7:36which is exactly what we need
for our transistor arrays. -
7:37 - 7:40So we can use molecular engineering
-
7:40 - 7:43to design different shapes
of different sizes -
7:43 - 7:45and of different periodicities.
-
7:45 - 7:48So for example, if we take
a symmetrical molecule, -
7:48 - 7:51where the two polymer chains
are similar length, -
7:51 - 7:54the natural self-assembled
structure that is formed -
7:54 - 7:57is a long, meandering line,
-
7:57 - 7:58very much like a fingerprint.
-
7:59 - 8:01And the width of the fingerprint lines
-
8:01 - 8:03and the distance between them
-
8:03 - 8:07is determined by the lengths
of our polymer chains -
8:07 - 8:11but also the level of built-in
frustration in the system. -
8:11 - 8:14And we can even create
more elaborate structures -
8:15 - 8:18if we use unsymmetrical molecules,
-
8:19 - 8:23where one polymer chain
is significantly shorter than the other. -
8:24 - 8:26And the self-assembled structure
that forms in this case -
8:26 - 8:30is with the shorter chains
forming a tight ball in the middle, -
8:30 - 8:34and it's surrounded by the longer,
opposing polymer chains, -
8:34 - 8:36forming a natural cylinder.
-
8:37 - 8:39And the size of this cylinder
-
8:39 - 8:43and the distance between
the cylinders, the periodicity, -
8:43 - 8:46is again determined by how long
we make the polymer chains -
8:46 - 8:49and the level of built-in frustration.
-
8:50 - 8:54So in other words, we're using
molecular engineering -
8:54 - 8:57to self-assemble nanoscale structures
-
8:57 - 9:02that can be lines or cylinders
the size and periodicity of our design. -
9:02 - 9:06We're using chemistry,
chemical engineering, -
9:06 - 9:10to manufacture the nanoscale features
that we need for our transistors. -
9:14 - 9:18But the ability
to self-assemble these structures -
9:18 - 9:20only takes us half of the way,
-
9:20 - 9:23because we still need
to position these structures -
9:23 - 9:27where we want the transistors
in the integrated circuit. -
9:27 - 9:30But we can do this relatively easily
-
9:30 - 9:37using wide guide structures that pin down
the self-assembled structures, -
9:37 - 9:39anchoring them in place
-
9:39 - 9:42and forcing the rest
of the self-assembled structures -
9:42 - 9:43to lie parallel,
-
9:43 - 9:46aligned with our guide structure.
-
9:47 - 9:51For example, if we want to make
a fine, 40-nanometer line, -
9:51 - 9:55which is very difficult to manufacture
with conventional projection technology, -
9:56 - 10:01we can manufacture
a 120-nanometer guide structure -
10:01 - 10:04with normal projection technology,
-
10:04 - 10:10and this structure will align three
of the 40-nanometer lines in between. -
10:10 - 10:15So the materials are doing
the most difficult fine patterning. -
10:16 - 10:20And we call this whole approach
"directed self-assembly." -
10:22 - 10:24The challenge with directed self-assembly
-
10:24 - 10:29is that the whole system
needs to align almost perfectly, -
10:29 - 10:34because any tiny defect in the structure
could cause a transistor failure. -
10:34 - 10:37And because there are billions
of transistors in our circuit, -
10:37 - 10:40we need an almost
molecularly perfect system. -
10:41 - 10:43But we're going to extraordinary measures
-
10:43 - 10:44to achieve this,
-
10:44 - 10:47from the cleanliness of our chemistry
-
10:47 - 10:50to the careful processing
of these materials -
10:50 - 10:51in the semiconductor factory
-
10:51 - 10:56to remove even the smallest
nanoscopic defects. -
10:57 - 11:03So directed self-assembly
is an exciting new disruptive technology, -
11:03 - 11:05but it is still in the development stage.
-
11:06 - 11:10But we're growing in confidence
that we could, in fact, introduce it -
11:10 - 11:11to the semiconductor industry
-
11:11 - 11:14as a revolutionary new
manufacturing process -
11:14 - 11:16in just the next few years.
-
11:17 - 11:20And if we can do this,
if we're successful, -
11:20 - 11:22we'll be able to continue
-
11:22 - 11:25with the cost-effective
miniaturization of transistors, -
11:25 - 11:29continue with the spectacular
expansion of computing -
11:29 - 11:31and the digital revolution.
-
11:31 - 11:34And what's more, this could even
be the dawn of a new era -
11:34 - 11:36of molecular manufacturing.
-
11:36 - 11:38How cool is that?
-
11:39 - 11:40Thank you.
-
11:40 - 11:44(Applause)
- Title:
- The self-assembling computer chips of the future
- Speaker:
- Karl Skjonnemand
- Description:
-
The transistors that power the phone in your pocket are unimaginably small: you can fit more than 3,000 of them across the width of a human hair. But to keep up with innovations in fields like facial recognition and augmented reality, we need to pack even more computing power into our computer chips -- and we're running out of space. In this forward-thinking talk, technology developer Karl Skjonnemand introduces a radically new way to create chips. "This could be the dawn of a new era of molecular manufacturing," Skjonnemand says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:57
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for The self-assembling computer chips of the future |