AWARDS
GORDON MOORE AWARDED THE OTHMER GOLD MEDAL
minum interconnects still widely used. To continue to improve the performance and speed, "we need a better conductor than copper. We need a superconductor that operates at ordinary temperatures."
G
IN CONTINUING to shrink the size of microprocessors, manufacturers will soon reach the limits of optical lithography— which can currently create a circuit line width of as small as 0.13 μηι—and in some places on the chip "the atomic nature of matter starts to be a concern." Moore con tinued to predict "a revolutionary rate of change" where smaller continues to be bet ter and cheaper, and materials processing will increasingly become a chemical-based industry. Arnold Thackray, president of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, presented a commemorative plaque and the Othmer Medal to Moore, citing Moore's accom plishments as "a chemical genius who con tributed to the creation of the integrated circuit and microprocessor." Thackray noted that the award "com memorates the richness and enduring strength of our chemical and general sci entific heritage," while at the same time commemorating the life and achievements of Donald F. Othmer, a pioneering chem ical engineer and coauthor of the Kirk-OthmerEncyclopedia.-MELODYVOITH & MARC
ORDON E. MOORE, COFOUNDER
of Intel, was awarded the Chem ical Heritage Foundation's Othmer Gold Medal last month at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Asto ria Hotel in New York City The technol ogy visionary is well known for his obser vation, in a speech in 1965, that the growth in computer chip performance doubles about every 18 to 24 months. Most pre dictions about technology rarely prove true for more than a short time, but Moore's law, as it came to be known, has proven re markably accurate. When asked by reporters how he was able to foresee exponential growth in such a new enterprise, Moore replied that his famous expression became a "self-fulfill ing prophecy" in the semiconductor indus try Keeping up with this expectation has meant that the technologists who devel oped the "computer on a chip" had to take advantage of many aspects of chemistry Fortunately, Moore began his career as a chemist. As a child, Moore thought that no play session with a chemistry set was complete without a big explosion at the end. He went on to study chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his Ph.D. in chemistry and physics from California Institute of Technology. After a short time with the Applied Physics Laboratory atJohns Hopkins Uni versity, Moore was tapped by William Shockley to join Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. One year later, Moore and seven of his colleagues left to form Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., which became a successful chipmaker. In 1968, Moore and coworker Robert Noyce founded Intel to make complex integrated circuits. Moore's background in chemistry helped him put the "silicon" in "Silicon Val ley " In his acceptance speech, he described the basis of Shockley's transistor: Impuri ties in silicon crystals create a polarity that moves electrons from one area and type of impurity to another. Moore views "the semiconductor indus try as a chemical industry. The products are just electronics." Chemistry is used to create the large single crystals of highpurity silicon and to introduce the impu rities in the silicon using diffusion equa tions. To create commercially useful transistors, manufacturers have to create 62
C & E N / MAY U ,
2001
MEDALIST Thackray (left)and William Joyce (right),vice chairman of the board of Dow Chemical, congratulate Moore at the award luncheon. many layers and patterns in the chips, which is done by deposition and photo etching. The process requires the use of "noxious" chemicals, "a full range of indus trial gases," and ultra-pure water. Moore, who is director emeritus at Intel, told reporters that the cost of following the road map ofexponential growth is very high. Intel, for instance, committed $4.2 billion in R&D for 2001 to keep ahead in the race to rapidly increase microprocessor power. The recent advance to copper connec tors in integrated circuit production was only a small improvement over the aluACS
REI5CH
N E W S
Society Members Meet Congress
O
ΨΨ**Γ
,- .
n May 2— the sixth annual Con gressional Visits Day—38 American Chemical Society representatives made 50 visits on Capitol Hill, including 17 with members of Con gress. Con gressional Visits Day is a multisectorand multidisciplinary event that each year brings together coalitions of about 20 companies and 60 pro fessional societies and educational institutions with an interest in raising visibility and support for science in Congress. ACS again fielded one of the largest delegations (shown). All together, more than 250 scientists were involved in this event. According to Nina I. McClelland, chair of the ACS Board, the core message delivered at all meetings was that "investing in federally funded research today will lead to technological and economic gains tomorrow." ACS representatives focused particularly on the importance of increas ing funding for NSF and the Department of Energy's science office.—LINDA RABER
HTTP://PUB5.ACS.ORG/CEN
