Accelerated discovery of materials for a sustainable future of computing

Daniel P. Sanders
Principal Research Staff Member and Senior Manager in charge of the Materials Discovery Department
IBM Research - Almaden (USA)

Advances in memory technologies, novel compute architectures, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotic automation, and cloud technologies are poised to further accelerate discovery, drive profound transformation, and help enable a sustainable future. However, can these same technologies allow the semiconductor industry to address its own key sustainability challenges to ensure a sustainable future for computing? How close is the semiconductor industry to enabling a new virtuous cycle of accelerated discovery and sustainable computing?
To discuss the needs, opportunities, and progress, this talk will review some of our recent efforts to tackle a sustainability challenge facing a very important class of chemicals used in the production of computing devices, photoacid generators (PAGs). PAGs are a critical component of the chemically amplified photoresist materials used in modern semiconductor lithography. Improvements in photoresist materials (and PAGs) helped drive the last 30 years of semiconductor device scaling. Unfortunately, this legacy is at risk as onium-based photoacid generators are one of several classes of chemicals that have recently come under additional scrutiny from global environmental regulators for their potential environmental risks. Can emerging compute technologies accelerate the discovery of new photoacid generators with improved sustainability attributes?

Dan Sanders received a Bachelor’s degree in Polymer Science and Engineering in 1996 and Master’s degree in Macromolecular Science in 1999, both from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH). He went on to receive his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) working in the lab of Prof. Robert H. Grubbs. In 2004, he joined IBM’s Almaden Research Center as a Research Staff Member and is currently a Principal Research Staff Member and Senior Manager in charge of the Materials Discovery department at IBM Research – Almaden. As part of IBM Research’s Accelerated Discovery strategy, Dan’s organization seeks to apply informatics, simulation, Artificial Intelligence, and advanced lab automation to speed the discovery of new sustainable materials and apply these techniques to pertinent use cases of relevance for IBM and the world. Currently, his department is working on advanced battery materials, CO₂ upcycling into novel monomers and polymers, and sustainable materials for semiconductor fabrication.