ITR: Nanoarchitecture: Balancing Regularity, Complexity, and Defect Tolerance using DNA for Nanoelectronic Integration

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Miniaturization in electronics by conventional top-down manufacturing is expected to reach its limit during the next one to two decades. Furthermore, the cost of building fabrication facilities for conventional CMOS may become prohibitive. These issues caused the Semiconductor Industry Association to identify as one of its grand challenges the implementation of non-CMOS solutions that could significantly influence production of future integrated circuits and microprocessors. To meet this challenge, this interdisciplinary project takes a vertically integrated approach that uses a bottom-up process to self-assemble well-defined nanoscale building blocks into functional nanoelectronic structures. This project seeks to overcome existing problems in nanoelectronic integration by using DNA self-assemblies to produce patterned nanostructures. The long-term goal is to construct a computing device through DNA self-assembly of nanoelectronic devices. This goal will be achieved through a series of more modest steps, beginning with the experimental demonstration of DNA assembled nanoelectronic components (e.g., fragmented carbon nanotubes) and then DNA assembly of a very small number of these components into a small circuit. To help guide these efforts, this project will simultaneously explore the impact of this new technology on computer architecture. In particular, the PIs seek to develop architectures that strike a balance between 1) the regularity of large-scale DNA self-assembly patterning capabilities, 2) the complexity required for sophisticated system designs and 3) tolerance to the inevitable defects present in nanoscale systems. The trade-offs between these three architectural properties permeate all aspects of this project and provide the framework for closed-loop feedback among the team members.