Approach

Reciprocal Engineering – RE Oy, a company based in Helsinki, develops electrically insulating, transparent to visible light, ferromagnetic thin film materials, which enable disruptive manufacturing of electronic devices. Technologically competitive solutions – enabling significant reduction in semiconductor processing stages without compromising environmental requirements – originate from basic research. Indeed, we provide a solution to the most imminent environmental issues in the semiconductor industry. We apply physics and chemistry in our R&D&I, in collaboration with the leading research laboratories. This includes the development of a crystallographic modelling code, work on electromagnetics, and many applications of natural sciences in disruptive products development. We have long experience on the application of materials structure-property -relationship in the development of functional materials.

Crystal structure data are routinely engineered in the reciprocal space - hence the company's name.

We invest in materials, instrumentation, and computer code development

Thin film materials and patterning technologies are developed in close collaboration with the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), by size the largest science and energy national laboratory in the Department of Energy system.

Thin film deposition facilities at CNMS

A breakthrough solution for energy and cost-effective manufacturing

Our products are verified, novel magnetic, electrically insulating thin films that enable very cost-effective manufacturing of sensors, memories, magneto-optical and microwave and radio frequency devices for portable electronics - smartphones, IoT devices and specialized solutions in the medical and automotive industries. The work began with the development of new functional materials - primarily characterized by neutron, synchrotron X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman scattering, as well as magnetic and electrical measurements at U.S. national laboratories, and computational modeling - and evolved to thin-film fabrication, characterization, and application at ORNL. Critical technical and environmental issues, described below, have been addressed. 

Sustainability issues in today's semiconductor industry

It is fashionable for tech giants and institutional investors to talk about something like "sustainable governance" or "corporate social responsibility" or "sustainable semiconductor initiative" in response to public pressure. How seriously should we take these statements? It is clear that the only way to make the semiconductor industry sustainable is to create an entirely new solution - evolutionary change led and controlled by the technology giants is not the answer.

Below we list problems in electronics and device manufacturing to give an idea of the scale of the problems that can be addressed with the right materials and patterning technology. As discussed below, proven solutions are available.

Energy consumption of connected devices

While it is clear that the number of connected devices is increasing, it is not clear how to live with the side effects: according to Enerdata, information and communication technology (ICT) currently consumes an estimated 5%-9% of the world's electricity, and consumption could increase to 20% by 2030.

Facts about today's chip manufacturing

It's surprising and disappointing that the basic idea of patterning - over two hundred years old lithography in its numerous variants (see note 2 and note 3) - hasn't changed or really been challenged. The typical lithographic process is tremendously slow, expensive, irreversible and environmentally disastrous, yet giant corporations invest remarkable sums of money (mostly from national sources, there is no fair competition) in the same outdated, boring approach - the approach that prevents technologically advantageous solutions from entering the market.

Lithography accounts for 30 to 50% of chip manufacturing costs

Patterning alone - the critical processing required to create a useful integrated circuit - is a time-consuming, expensive, water- and energy-intensive process. A CMOS wafer can go through the photolithographic cycle 50 to 100 times - clearly, alternative advanced manufacturing has a lot to offer. So how much energy does it take? Some numbers from the Bloomberg article (August 26, 2022): "TSMC is expected to soon consume more energy than the entire 21 million-person population of Sri Lanka. In 2020 the company accounted for about 6% of Taiwan’s overall energy consumption." And energy consumption continues to rise.

The lithography process is paralleled by a huge consumption of purifying water. For example, TSMC uses approximately 200,000 tons of water per day. Rinsing water must be ultra-pure, with obvious consequences. In addition to environmental issues, the use of photoresists poses health risks due to the toxic chemicals involved.

There is an ecosystem of companies developing complex mask aligners, etch equipment, new photoresists, developers, and related chemicals to take evolutionary steps to keep up with Moore's Law. This results in enormous costs that only a few, heavily subsidized companies can afford. Ultimately, end users around the world are footing the bill: it is a seller's market.

For example, the price of a 5mm x 5mm fixed block from a foundry service provider is 252,000 euros per mm2. At such prices, it is difficult to innovate or develop disruptive solutions.

Rare Earth Mining

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are widely used in electronics and especially in magnetic materials. In order to have a continuous supply of REEs, new mines are being opened. In addition to price control and geopolitical risks, REE mining poses significant environmental and health issues, as summarized in the Harvard International Review report.

There are many applications in electronics where REEs are simply not needed, especially if the right design principles are applied from the start. It is a choice between high tech and the old way. Some tech giants wash their hands of this by claiming to use mostly recycled REEs, which is disappointing and shows a lack of real innovation.

Waste Generation

What happens to an electronic device at the end of its life - the valuable elements may be recycled, while the less valuable and often toxic elements are not always properly treated. This is not a simple process, as today's electronics contain toxic elements - such as lead, cadmium and beryllium - that pose health risks to workers handling the waste and to the environment. Recycling is also energy intensive and expensive. The World Economic Forum's report, A New Circular Vision for Electronics - Time for a Global Reboot, states that approximately 50 million tons of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) is generated each year, but only 20% is formally recycled. The report goes on to say that if nothing is done, the amount of waste will more than double to 120 million tons per year by 2050.

Recycling itself is an energy- and chemical-intensive process: it is certainly better to extend the life cycle of electronic devices with a technology that allows them to be upgraded.
 

Alternative

We have taken a different approach. Our material can be

(a) be patterned directly and rapidly at room temperature through a scalable manufacturing process, without photoresists, exposure, etching, material deposition, cleaning, expensive equipment, and

(b) be reset to its pre-patterning state when deemed necessary. Reset is better than recycling or making new chips.

Disruptive solutions do not come from applying evolutionary steps to the existing state of practice. Drastic changes require scientific and engineering efforts. We develop solutions from basic research.