Norway’s Lace Lithography has secured a 40-million-euro Series A round. The deep-tech startup developing a method that employs helium-atom beams instead of light to pattern chips will use the funds to transition from experimental setups to industrial-grade systems. Commercialization is slated for the next decade, targeting annual revenues of 500+ million euros. The funding round was led by VC firm Atomico, alongside M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund), Linse Capital, SETT and Nysnø, with participation from existing investors.
Whereas the diffraction limit restricts the minimum feature size in photon-based patterning, this constraint can be circumvented when using atoms. With a beam size of 0.1 nm, Lace claims that it can create chip structures that are ten times smaller than current EUV lithography systems can achieve. The firm, which runs an office in Eindhoven, describes its systems as “beyond-EUV.”
Lace is coordinating the EIC-funded Faboulace project, which plans to deliver a prototype that will be scrutinized by Imec.
