Bridging Lab to Fab: How Atomera and MST Are Advancing Chip Performance
By Sanjay Gangal - https://www.youtube.com/@SanjayTechCafe
In a world where artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and electric vehicles are pushing silicon to its limits, a small materials innovation might just hold the key to extending the life — and the power — of traditional chips.
Scott Bibaud, President and CEO of Atomera, believes his company’s Mears Silicon Technology™ (MST) can provide precisely that edge.
In an exclusive video interview for SanjayTechCafe, Bibaud outlined how a microscopic thin film can improve chip performance, reduce power consumption, and extend the lifespan of today’s silicon manufacturing processes — without requiring major changes to billion-dollar fabrication plants.
“We see MST as a bridge,” Bibaud said. “It enables semiconductor companies to get more value out of existing fabs, while pushing performance boundaries that are critical for AI, automotive, and advanced computing applications.”
Atomera, founded in 2001, is a public company (NASDAQ: ATOM) whose licensing-based business model focuses on integrating MST into the supply chains of major chipmakers.
The technology acts as an ultra-thin layer in a transistor’s channel region, optimizing the flow of electrons and improving efficiency.
Bridging the Lab-to-Fab Gap
One of the largest barriers to semiconductor innovation, Bibaud explained, is the so-called “lab-to-fab” gap — the long and expensive process of validating new materials and processes on commercial production lines.
To accelerate that journey, Atomera has partnered closely with Arizona State University’s MacroTechnology Works (MTW) facility in Tempe, Arizona — a one-of-a-kind academic-industry platform that allows real-world process development at industry scale.
“At ASU’s MTW, we can take MST from proof of concept to customer validation much faster,” Bibaud said. “This speeds up our pipeline and helps our partners see real, manufacturable benefits.”
Such academic-industry partnerships have taken on heightened importance with the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which earmarks $52 billion in U.S. government funding to boost domestic semiconductor capabilities.
“It's critical that smaller innovators like Atomera have access to resources that let us prove out technologies that can help the U.S. regain leadership in chip design and manufacturing,” Bibaud noted.
A Career Spanning Broadcom, Altera, and Atomera
Before taking the helm at Atomera in 2015, Bibaud served as Executive Vice President at Broadcom, where he led the $1 billion Mobile Platforms Group, and as Senior Vice President at Altera (now part of Intel).
That experience managing large-scale semiconductor businesses gives Bibaud a unique perspective on the current innovation landscape.
While advanced packaging, chiplets, and heterogenous integration dominate industry headlines, he argues that improving core transistor performance remains foundational.
“You can have the most advanced architecture, but if your transistors are inefficient, your overall system will suffer,” Bibaud said. “MST helps address that at the material level.”
What’s Next for MST?
Looking ahead, Atomera is eyeing applications in AI accelerators, automotive chips, edge computing, and data centers — all segments that demand both high performance and energy efficiency.
“Semiconductor scaling isn’t slowing down — it’s just evolving,” Bibaud said. “We believe MST will play a critical role in enabling that evolution.”
To hear more of Scott Bibaud’s insights, you can watch the full interview on SanjayTechCafe here: 🎥 Watch the interview on YouTube
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Watch the interview: Atomera CEO Scott Bibaud: Advancing Semiconductor Innovation with Mears Silicon Technology (MST)