Alliances
STMicroelectronics (ST) president/CEO Pasquale Pistorio will chair the technology platform group of a new European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council (ENIAC), where leading European players in the micro- and nanoelectronics field will work together to develop and implement a coherent European vision for the coming nanoelectronics era.
The mission of the ENIAC program is to put in place the recommendations of a comprehensive report entitled "Vision 20/20: Nanoelectronics at the centre of change". The report results from the work of a high level group of executives from leading industries and research organisations, supported by the European Commission.
The report predicts that the progress of nanoelectronics will continue for at least another 15 years, and will give rise to another revolution in the number of applications enabled by this technology. ENIAC's goals include supporting public and private R&D investments in nanotechnology and the development of a common European vision for the next era of an increasingly knowledge-based world economy.
Pistorio comments: "This cooperation will provide a strategic framework in which all European public and private enterprises will be able to work effectively together to contribute to the development of this new age and will reinforce Europe's position as a key player in the global economy."
International SEMATECH and The PEER Group have developed third-party services for testing automation software conformance to manufacturers of 300mm semiconductor manufacturing equipment. ISMI developed the set of software protocols that capture most of its members' requirements and PEER Group is the first company to be licensed by ISMI to provide objective, third-party testing for equipment conformance to those specifications. The aim is to provide equipment manufacturers with a reliable method of reducing the extensive and costly factory floor acceptance testing of their new 300mm tools. Automation is seen as critical to the success of 300mm manufacturing.
The ISMI operational scenarios go beyond standard industry tests by simulating 300mm factory automated production, and allowing an equipment maker to:
* Establish that a tool meets a particular baseline capability
* Eliminate some source inspections
* Reduce field support
* Distinguish common automation requirements from a special customer need
