Data storage and processing apparatus, and method for fabricating the same

A data storage and processing apparatus, comprising:

• a substrate including an active circuitry, wherein the active circuitry includes at least one of one or more transistors and one or more diodes for operating the apparatus;
• and
• a plurality of main layers above the substrate, wherein each main layer includes at least one of one or more memory modules and one or more processing modules;
• wherein:
• the memory and processing modules within each main layer communicate with memory and processing modules of other layers and with the active circuitry of the substrate through at least one of vias, surface connections, and edge connections of each main layer;
• and
• each main layer includes a stack of one or more functional sublayers, with each functional sublayer realizing one or more specific circuit functions, wherein each functional sublayer comprises a combination of low temperature-compatible organic thin-film materials and low temperature-compatible processed inorganic thin-film materials, and wherein each main layer includes a portion of the active circuitry.

A method for fabricating a data storage and processing apparatus including a substrate including an active circuitry, wherein the active circuitry includes at least one of one or more transistors and one or more diodes for operating the apparatus, and the apparatus also including one or more main layers above the substrate, wherein each main layer includes at least one of one or more memory modules and one or more processing modules, wherein the memory and processing modules within each main layer communicate with memory and processing modules of other layers and with the active circuitry of the substrate through at least one of vias, surface connections, and edge connections of each main layer;

• wherein each main layer includes a stack of one or more functional sublayers, with each functional sublayer realizing one or more specific circuit functions, wherein each function sublayer comprises a combination of low temperature-compatible organic thin-film materials and low temperature-compatible processes inorganic thin-film materials;
• and wherein each main layer includes a portion of the active circuitry, the method comprising:
• depositing and processing the main layers and functional sublayers of each main layer thereof in successive steps, wherein:
• the depositing step includes one or more of:
• selecting from semiconductor materials among thin films of amorphous, polycrystalline or microcrystalline silicon or germanium, oxides, dielectric materials, metals or combinations thereof and depositing the layer of such material by one of sputtering, evaporation, chemical vapour deposition or plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition, spin coating, and combinations thereof;
• and
• selecting from polymer materials among molecular, oligomer, and polymer and depositing the layer of such material by one of solvent techniques, evaporation, sputtering, vacuum-based techniques, film transfer techniques, and combinations thereof;
• and
• the processing step includes one or more of:
• processing each deposited layer of semiconductor materials using one of photolithography, wet etching, dry etching, reactive ion etching, plasma etching, chemo-mechanical polishing, ion implantation, and combinations thereof;
• and
• processing each deposited layer of polymer materials using transient heating with one of pulsed laser or particle beams for inducing crystallization of deposited amorphous films, grain refinement of deposited films, and incorporation and activation of dopants therein, wherein;
• the deposited layer is processed under thermal conditions that avoid subjecting an already deposited and processed layer to a static temperature exceeding a temperature in a range of 150-450° C.;
• and
• the deposited layer is processed under thermal conditions that avoid subjecting an already deposited and processed layer to dynamic temperatures exceeding a transient stability limit of the polymer materials, wherein the transient stability limit is defined as one of being less than 500° C. for not more than 10 ms and process-induced chemical damage.

A data storage and processing apparatus, comprising:

• a substrate including an active circuitry, wherein the active circuitry includes at least one of one or more transistors and one or more diodes for operating the apparatus;
• and
• one or more groups of memory planes, wherein each group includes a plurality of memory planes formed above the substrate, wherein for each group:
• the plurality of memory planes are stacked,
• a memory plane of the plurality is displaced in an X direction or Y direction or both in relation to another memory plane of the plurality, and
• each memory plane of the plurality is configured to electrically communicate with the active circuitry of the substrate.