Understanding what keeps material together in the innermost part

Chemnitz-based investigators received a research assignment from the chipmaker AMD, to calculate material properties of innovative microprocessors.

atomic structur of beta-quarz Silicon oxide

Chemnitz-based investigators under supervision of Prof. Dr. Christian Radehaus received a research assignment from the chipmaker AMD, to calculate material properties of innovative microprocessors. In the scope of this project a new business branch called "calculations of modern materials on the atomic level" - briefly called MATcalc was founded. The society of scientific and technological transfer of the Technical University Dresden (GWT-TUD GmbH), which is based in the Technology Center Chemnitz (TCC), uses advanced calculation methods and high performance computers for this project.

Using innovative calculations procedures called "ab initio methods" the MATcalc-experts determine material properties on their physical principles by using innovative calculations procedures, so called "ab initio methods". This method includes a material screening without using parameters. Thus, the physical behavior of atoms can be determined based on their position in the periodic system, which makes experiments redundant. The new method enables scientist to utilize the coherences between atoms and their material properties.The aim of “ab inito” is to save time and materiel cost in the development of microprocessor, as the number of experiments can be reduced to a minimum.

Investigations on atomic level are increasingly gaining importance, since the following transistor generations of AMD will have the size of a few nanometers. For comparison: the diameter of one human hair amounts 50.000 nanometres. "The future calculation on atomic level offers a lot of opportunities, not only for the semiconductor industry. In addition also engineering, medical devices and other industrial sectors will profit from this innovation", stated Prof. Radehaus. Retired from his professorship at the Technical University of Chemnitz as the chairman for electronics and optoelectronic, he is now heading the MATcalc team.

The atomic calculation requires a high computing power. Therefore, the GWT-TUD GmbH provided a high performance computer, which has been operated in the TCC and was built by the Chemnitz-based company INCA. "The newly established business sector MATcalc, belonging to the GWT-TUD GmbH, is an excellent example of how innovative scientific methods can be transferred from the university to the industrial sector", stated Prof. Radehaus. An important role in the establishment of MATcalc played the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Without the support of the latter, it would not have been possible to develop such an effective cooperation between science and the industries.