The Laboratory is expanding into research on the advanced nanofabrication of low-temperature plasmas (LTP) for creating the next-generation of semiconductors, an internationally competitive field whose leadership will shape the future of computing. Our LTP capabilities provide researchers with world-class tools for advancing industries critical to the nation’s economic competitiveness.
Key to this expansion is the new Quantum Information Science (QIS) program at PPPL. Headed by David Graves, formerly of the University of California, Berkeley, this research partners with two world-leading suppliers of semiconductor equipment to develop the plasma-enhanced fabrication of quantum computer chips and the growth of specialized crystals for quantum sensors. Innovation in these rapidly growing fields requires advanced development of plasma equipment to enable the introduction of new materials for semiconductors and the novel design of microchips.
A broad array of industrial applications with major economic impact in the U.S. and internationally rely on LTP, whose research and development is the most advanced in the world at PPPL. Advanced capabilities range from the PPPL Laboratory for Plasma Nanosynthesis (LPN), a leader in the field of plasma processing for microchip fabrication, to the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF). This joint venture of PPPL and Princeton University provides U.S. researchers with access to world-class diagnostics and computational tools for characterizing low-temperature plasmas.