CEA/Leti (the Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory of the CEA,
based in Grenoble), and IBM
today announced that they will collaborate on research in semiconductor and
nanoelectronics technology.
This five-year agreement is focused on advanced materials, devices and processes
for the development of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process
technology for the production of microprocessors and integrated circuits at
22nm and beyond.
With this agreement, CEA/Leti becomes a research associate of IBM and IBM’s
semiconductor Joint Development Alliance ecosystem centered in Albany, N.Y.
CEA/Leti will reinforce this ecosystem through its specific expertise in low-power
CMOS (such as SOI technologies), in e-beam lithography and in nanoscale characterization
and modelling. This agreement strengthens the links between the IBM and Crolles-Grenoble
ecosystems, following STMicroelectronics’ decision to join the IBM Alliance
in 2007, for the development of core CMOS and value-added application-specific
derivative technologies and industrialization of these processes.
“Due to increasing complexity, CMOS technologies can only be developed
through global alliances. CEA/Leti chose to partner with IBM since its alliance
directly benefits companies with strong industrial activity based in Europe,”
said Laurent Malier, General Manager of CEA/Leti. “With 22 and 16nm nodes
ahead of us, many challenges remain to be tackled and we are strongly committed
to speeding up the advent of the best options for these technologies”.
“This agreement reinforces the IBM ecosystem of leading companies and
research organizations who are working together to achieve significant advances
in semiconductor and nanoelectronics technology,” said Scottie Ginn, vice
president, IBM design enablement and packaging. “This unique model of
collaborative development can help accelerate the production of more powerful
and energy efficient chips for next-generation computers, consumer electronics
and mobile devices.”
Complementary expertise
This collaboration will focus on three key areas:
- Advanced lithography for fast prototyping and 22nm chip technology
- CMOS technologies and low-power devices for 22nm chip technology and beyond
- Technology enablement, including innovative nanoscale characterization
techniques for research and for the monitoring of manufacturing protocols
This development work will bring complementary expertise to the IBM Research
Alliance. Research work will be carried out on CEA/Leti’s 300mm silicon
platform in Grenoble, as well as at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
of the University at Albany, N.Y., STMicroelectronics’ facility in Crolles,
and IBM’s 300mm fab in East Fishkill, N.Y. A team from CEA/Leti will be
assigned to work on the program at Albany Nanotech.
"We are very pleased with this agreement between CEA/Leti and IBM. It
is within the logic of overall cooperation and it represents an important step
for the development of advanced processes which are necessary for the implementation
of the core CMOS and value-added applications specific derivative technologies
at our Crolles site," added Jean-Marc Chery, executive vice president,
chief technology officer, STMicroelectronics.
This agreement reinforces CEA/Leti’s role as a supporter of the European
microelectronics industry, as the results of this cooperation will benefit European
partners of the IBM Alliance as well as the users of the alliance technology.
“A company’s competitiveness depends on innovation, which is why
IBM enters into partnerships with industry leading companies and laboratories
to jointly take on the challenge of developing the technologies of the future,”
said Daniel Chaffraix, country general manager, IBM France. “Partnerships
between public and private research teams can dramatically spur projects, rapidly
transforming the results of researchers into benefits that improve our daily
lives."