Alliances
European nanotech research centre IMEC and Praesagus have agreed to jointly develop Praesagus' physics-based modelling approach for pattern-based interconnect thickness variation. The scope of the technology will be expanded to include copper/low-k and three-dimensional modelling. The partnership will use IMEC's copper damascene, ultra low-k dielectric and 65nm expertise and experience.
The work is to meet the needs for developing next-generation processes for electro-chemical deposition (ECD) and chemical mechanical planarisation (CMP) that will require a much more detailed understanding of the causes of interconnect variation and solutions to mitigate those causes.
"IMEC has initiated this programme with Praesagus to help our core technology partners address a serious concern as they move to the next process node," reports Karen Maex, PhD, IMEC Fellow in the Silicon Process Technology division.
"The current design for manufacturing (DFM) communication paradigm of CMP design rules and worst-case thickness tech files is running out of steam and the recently proposed alternative of density-based models does not provide enough accuracy," adds Hugo De Man, IMEC Senior Research Fellow. "In our System-Level Integration programme, IMEC is researching the impact of process variability in deep submicron technologies on circuit and system level. Variability in interconnect RC delays is a main concern as we are scaling down technology beyond the 90nm node. Praesagus' expertise in physics-based modelling of interconnect technology offers a promising alternative to accurately predict the interconnect performance, serving as a critical input to system designers."
The term of the agreement is two years. IMEC Industrial Affiliation Partners will have early access to the technology and Praesagus expects to incorporate the results into their commercial product.
Europe's GALILEO radio navigation satellite system group launched its second call for proposals for research activities with an overall budget of EUR67mn. The aim is to support the development of applications and user receivers. The first call for proposals for GALILEO was made under the 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6) with eight large research activities beginning in 2003 and totalling EUR19mn.
The second call covers applications in fields such as location-based services, and road, maritime, aviation and rail applications. It also caters for niche markets such as multi-modal transport, emergency management, law enforcement, energy, scientific research, agriculture, land survey and civil engineering. Particular attention will be paid to the involvement of small and medium size enterprises.
The second call is structured in three areas - user segment development, mission definition and implementation, and innovation and international initiatives. An information day will take place in Brussels on June 2, 2004, for companies, research centres and enterprises interested in these activities.
GALILEO was launched on the initiative of the European Commission and developed jointly with the European Space Agency (ESA). To date radio-navigation technology has only been available through the military GPS (USA) and GLONASS (Russia) systems. GALILEO programme, by contrast, will be administered and controlled by civilian authorities and offers a guarantee of quality and continuity which is essential for many applications.
http://www.cordis.lu/en/home.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/galileo
http://www.galileoju.com
Ellipsiz will be combining Chiron Semilab's process qualification test services in China with radio frequency (RF) and high frequency (HF) test expertise in a commercial test laboratory sited at the government-linked Shanghai IC R&D (ICRD) centre. Ellipsiz acquired a 33% stake in semiconductor reliability test supplier Chiron some five months ago.
Ellipsiz Semilab Shanghai is targeted to commence operations in August this year. Ellipsiz will own 74.27% of the Shanghai business, while Chiron Semilab and Dr Qian Dahong will hold 6.21% and 10.18% respectively. The balance of 9.34% will be held by an independent investor. Dr Qian brings knowledge in HF and RF research and development and management. Dr Qian is also executive advisor of the ICRD.
The laboratory services are targeted at fabless design houses and system houses that do not have the technical expertise and facilities in-house and fabs looking to outsource their technology and process qualification needs. Chiron Semilab has recently started to service a 300mm foundry in Singapore in all its technology qualification, as well as customer process qualifications.
