Microsoft-Backed Lace Raises $40 Million to Develop Helium-Atom Lithography
The effort targets chip features beyond photolithography’s limits using neutral helium atoms.
Overview
- Lace secured a $40 million Series A co-led by Atomico and Microsoft’s M12, bringing its total funding to more than $60 million.
- Lace is building a lithography tool that patterns chips with a beam of helium atoms instead of light.
- The company says its beam is about 0.1 nanometer wide, compared with the 13.5 nanometer light used in ASML’s extreme ultraviolet systems.
- Leaders at Lace claim the approach could print features about ten times smaller than today’s tools, which could raise the performance of AI processors.
- Lace reports working prototypes and an invited paper in February, and it targets a pilot-fab test tool around 2029 while planning to fit into current fab workflows and use AI for mask design.