The funds could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Lace Lithography, a Microsoft-backed Norwegian chipmaking equipment start-up, has announced the raising of $40m to be used in the advancement of its unique semiconductor technologies.<\/p>\n
The Series A funding round was led by Atomico with additional investments from Microsoft\u2019s venture arm M12, Linse Capital, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation and Nysn\u00f8.<\/p>\n
Typically, to construct advanced chips, organisations use a process called lithography<\/a> which uses light to draw complex circuits that form the foundation \u200bof artificial intelligence chips. This creates more room on components enabling space for additional features within a limited area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lace Lithography\u2019s engineers have developed a new system. Rather than using light, they use a new form of lithography that utilises a helium atom beam. The company\u2019s CEO Bodil Holst explained that this approach creates chip designs that are 10 times as small as what is currently possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n John Petersen, the scientific director of Lithography at IMEC explained to Reuters<\/a> that the advantage of a helium atom beam is in its potential to create features such as transistors, that are smaller to an \u201calmost unimaginable\u201d degree. Holst added that Lace\u2019s advancements could allow chipmakers to print silicon wafers at what could be considered \u201cultimately atomic resolution\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Founded in 2023 by Bodil Holst and Adri\u00e0 Salvador Palau, Lace is headquartered in Bergen, Norway, with a second location in Barcelona, Spain. The platform has \u2060developed prototype \u200bsystems and aims to have a test tool in a \u200bpilot chip fabrication plant or fab by roughly 2029.<\/p>\n