Lace Secures $40 Million to Innovate Semiconductor Manufacturing
Lace, a chipmaking equipment startup based in Norway and supported by Microsoft, has successfully raised $40 million in funding aimed at advancing its innovative technology in semiconductor design and manufacturing, as announced on Monday.
To produce state-of-the-art chips, industry leaders like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Intel utilize a technique known as lithography, which leverages light to inscribe intricate circuits that underpin sophisticated artificial intelligence chip architectures.
Predominantly, manufacturers rely on light-based lithography systems from ASML, a Dutch conglomerate that maintains a commanding presence in the market.
This competition intensifies as firms strive to miniaturize chip components and incorporate additional functionalities, thereby enhancing computing power within constrained silicon real estate.
Recent developments in the field have piqued the interest of investors and governmental entities, coinciding with a resurgence of startups aiming to rival the Dutch titan.
Lace distinguishes itself with a pioneering methodology. Rather than utilizing light, its engineers have devised a form of lithography that employs a beam of helium atoms.
This groundbreaking technique, as conveyed by CEO Bodil Holst in a Reuters interview, could facilitate the creation of chip designs that are tenfold smaller than currently feasible.
“Our technology presents a pathway to possibly broaden the horizons of semiconductor innovation, enabling possibilities that would otherwise remain unattainable,” stated Holst.
The primary advantage of employing a helium atom beam allows the industry to fabricate components such as transistors, the fundamental elements of contemporary chips, at a scale previously deemed “almost unimaginable,” according to John Petersen, Scientific Director of Lithography at Imec, a prominent research and innovation hub within the semiconductor sector.
Lace’s atom beam measures approximately the dimensions of a single hydrogen atom, around 0.1 nanometers.
In contrast, ASML’s lithography tools generate a light beam measuring about 13.5 nanometers, with a human hair reaching approximately 100,000 nanometers in width.
The reduction in size of transistors and similar components would empower chip manufacturers to significantly enhance the performance of advanced AI processors, pushing the boundaries of current capacities. Holst remarked that Lace’s technology will enable wafer printing at what is “ultimately atomic resolution.”
The Series A funding round for the Bergen-based enterprise was spearheaded by Atomico, with further investments from Microsoft’s venture arm M12, Linse Capital, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation, and Nysnø.
While Lace has opted not to disclose its overall valuation, the company has made substantial progress in developing prototype systems and anticipates having a test tool operational in a pilot chip fabrication plant by around 2029.
The company’s research was presented in an invited paper at a scientific lithography summit held in February.
Source link: Bnnbloomberg.ca.
