ECLIPSE-CHIPS: GOALI: Diagnostics and Physics of Plasmas in Modern Industrial CCP Etch Tools

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $600,000 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This award is made in response to Dear Colleague Letter 24-130, as part of the ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering (ECLIPSE) interdisciplinary program. The award supports a joint Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) effort by the University of California - Los Angeles and Lam Research Corporation that includes a collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories. Each year the worldwide industry produces over a trillion computer chips, or about 150 chips per person, with semiconductor sales amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. Some are simple transistor circuits and others are extremely complicated AI circuits. Memory chips with up to 50 billion transistors on a chip are now being produced, and all these chips are made in machines containing plasmas. The plasma-based manufacturing is responsible for production of much of the modern electronics, yet improvements in the future generations of chips rely on better understanding of the plasma behavior. This award supports a research collaboration between the chip making industry and UCLA to do just that. The intricate construction of chips occurs in highly specialized fabrication facilities, where components from capacitors and wires to transistors are meticulously assembled on an atomic level. Central to this sophisticated manufacturing process is the use of plasma etch technology, an indispensable tool in the creation of these fundamental building blocks of mod

Key facts

NSF award ID
2511879
Awardee
University of California-Los Angeles (CA)
SAM.gov UEI
RN64EPNH8JC6
PI
Walter Gekelman
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
Ecosystem Leading Innovation Plasma S&E, PLASMA PHYSICS, GRANT OPP FOR ACAD LIA W/INDUS, Advanced Manufacturing
Estimated total
$600,000
Funds obligated
$600,000
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
09/01/2025 → 08/31/2028