Workshop on CMOS+X Technologies

The semiconductor industry has played a prominent role in the US and global economy for more than 50-years and has impacted human experience in an irreplaceable manner. While the most common practice is to just think about computers when the term "semiconductor industry" is mentioned, its societal impact is broader than that. Indeed transportation, healthcare, internet, energy, defense, AI, sustainable environment etc. are all fueled by the engine that is called the semiconductor industry.

As cloud and 5G/6G are poised to impart huge impact at the global scale, the importance of the semiconductor industry is only growing to grow in the coming years. However, the US leadership in manufacturing chips has consistently eroded and is now facing steep competition from around the world. The proposed workshop involving leading researchers in the field is meant to provide recommendations to NSF for new research directions, both in terms of facilities and future programs in the domain.

In addition to the providing new research directions, the results of the workshop are to include new ideas to train students and researchers and thus help develop workforce for US industry of the future.

To revitalize the US semiconductor industry it is imperative to develop infrastructure where new ideas for future computing hardware can be explored, fabricated and tested in a relevant scale. These facilities will need to be able to fabricate both advanced CMOS and new technologies (sometimes referred as the 'CMOS+X') and integrate them in a seamless manner.

Indeed, similar facilities are being developed in other countries. This workshop will develop an outline for a network of US facilities by listening to domain experts. The workshop report will aim to provide recommendations to NSF for both facilities and programs that can make such an effort successful and thus serve a very critical national need in the most efficient manner.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.