Nobu Koshiba: Materials Innovation: It’s No Longer Only About Resolution

In this plenary talk, Nobu Koshiba, President and CEO of JSR Corp (Japan), presents an overview of the long term vision of our future digital society -- including how the electronics industry evolves and how materials fit into the larger picture.

Koshiba notes that the success of EUV is core to more advanced computers. New materials, such as SiARC, provide extreme etch resistance and selective deposition of materials (e.g., metal "A" does not deposit on oxide, then metal "B" only deposits on oxide) are some new areas that can squeeze maximum resolution lithography and chip density with lower defect contributions.

Koshiba describes canonical milestones in human history, with contemporary examples being personal computers in the '80s and the internet era, and a shift in computing from tabulating, through programmable systems, and into a next inflection point, perhaps in the 2020s, which he calls "the cognitive systems era."

This new era includes both quantum computing (left side of brain) and neuromorphic device (right brain, parallel processes). While current CMOS logic devices fit into both aspects, the vision of cognitive computing is that AI will be transparent to users, logic and memory don't end, and we finally have the next "killer app," namely AI and data-driven society.

Achieving this vision will require new organizational approaches, and Koshiba describs the unique development center created with JSR and imec, including specific focus on EUV challenges that can be addressed with tools and process know-how from both organizations.

In the end, according to Koshiba, "Commitment and forms of collaboration will drive Moore's Law to the 2nm logic node."