Surrey NanoSystems completes latest funding round

Surrey NanoSystems has raised third round funding of £4.5 million (~US$7.1m) - one of the largest amounts secured by any UK semiconductor-focused company in the last year - from a consortium led by New Wave Ventures.

The funds will be used to commercialise innovations in materials to support the continued scaling of integrated circuits. These include an advanced dielectric thin film for insulation applications, and a process for growing carbon-based interconnections or 'vias'. Progress in both of these back-end-of-line semiconductor fabrication areas is critical if manufacturers are to continue silicon's evolution to next-generation geometry sizes, operating speeds and power conservation.

"The new funding will be used to take our proven technology to the next stage - to demonstrate it at a scale compatible with the lithography and wafer sizes used in today's high volume semiconductor manufacture", said David Wong, CEO of Surrey NanoSystems. "We are cooperating with leading players in the semiconductor industry, and within the next two to three years we expect to be able to offer the technologies in forms suitable for commercial use."