Army Shifting Its Molecular-Circuit Research

A shift to vapor deposition methods of producing molecular circuits is planned by the U. S. Army Signal Corps Laboratories, Fort Monmouth, N.J. The vapor phase deposition method, developed by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., will supplant current Signal Corps efforts in molecular circuitry in which single-crystal silicon slabs are diffused and etched to produce circuit functions. Some of the advantages seen for the vapor-phase deposition process are:

• Complex layer structures of eight or more oriented single-crystal layers of p, n, or intrinsic material are possible.
• Low-temperature electrochemical etch processing could eliminate high temperature conversion problems, in which p or n characteristics, or resistivity change from desired values.
• The structure can be adapted to simple processes for interconnection of circuit elements. (Electronic Design, June 8, 1960, p. 4)

The vapor-phase deposition process became a key step in the development of IC technology.