Atomic-level manufacturing is an advanced manufacturing technology that exerts the energy to atoms or atomic-level primitives to create entirely new materials, devices, and systems. It is a milestone in human cognition and creation of new substances. The significance of atomic-level manufacturing lies not only in its being a core technology for the future development of fields such as information devices and integrated circuits, but a key to breaking through the technological blockade and safeguarding the security of China's industrial chain. Today, the manufacturing of semiconductor information devices and integrated circuit devices/chips has become the biggest challenge China is faced with in international competition. Integrated circuit devices and similar products have gradually entered the era of atomic-level manufacturing.
Atomic fabrication facility for information device (A-FIND) breaks through the fundamental and systematic barriers in atomic-limit manufacturing through establishing new mechanisms for the atomic-level manipulation of information materials and devices. It designs and creates new substances on demand, and carves out a transformative route for the processing and manufacturing of information materials and devices at the atomic level. It also promotes the research on the automation, autonomy, and intelligentization from atomic layers to functional films and information devices, advancing the intelligentization and automation in atomic manufacturing to the new heights. The establishment of the atomic fabrication facility for information device will play a crucial role in forming a forward-looking strategic layout in major cutting-edge fields of atomic-level manufacturing and enhancing the capability of systematic breakthroughs.
Though China is able to keep up with the world in atomic-level manufacturing researches, it is only limited to small teams in colleges, universities and research institutions, making it difficult to give full play to the core advantages of atomic-level manufacturing. This forum will focus on the discussions on the following 3 major issues currently confronting the scientific researches in the field of atomic-level manufacturing:
1.Scalable Preparation of Atomic-Level Materials and Precision Processing of Devices: breakthroughs are needed in 12-inch atomic-level material, including large-size uniformity control, non-destructive transfer and surface contamination control, wafer-level heterogeneous integration and alignment accuracy, as well as grain boundary and defect control; breakthroughs are also needed in new device processes with atomic-level ultimate precision, integration of multi-component materials and heterogeneous structures and impact on device performance due to deviations in device electrical uniformity and stability and atomic structures.
2.AI-driven High-Throughput R&D Closed Loop: Breakthroughs are needed in reverse engineering of generative materials and devices, as well as intelligent computing and design systems for multi-scale and high-throughput simulation; development of intelligent sensing platforms for automatic defect identification and classification, spectroscopic data analysis; intelligent control and execution platforms for AI-driven process optimization and real-time feedback control; construction of high-quality multi-modal databases for small-scale quantum structures.
3. Key Technologies and Equipment for Atomic-Level Manufacturing: New technologies such as real-time monitoring, ultra-high-resolution and cross-scale characterization need to be developed to analyze the manufacturing process from atomic-level units to functional material devices; specialized large-scale equipment, standardized processes and controlled yields that are compatible with traditional CMOS production lines are needed.
The addressing of the aforementioned scientific challenges relies on an ultra-high vacuum (10-8 Pa) environment as a guarantee. Under ultra-high vacuum conditions, the mean free path of atoms/molecules is one billion times that at standard atmospheric pressure, and the time required to fully cover a surface with a single atomic layer extends from 10-9 seconds to 10 hours. This enables the intrinsic physical and chemical properties of materials to be preserved, making vacuum interconnection technology an inseparable condition for atomic-level manufacturing.
