News Article
IBM and Hitachi join up on chip research
The two companies form research collaboration to study chip characteristics at near atomic scale
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Hitachi, Ltd. announced that they have signed a unique, two year joint semiconductor metrology research agreement in order to speed the pace of semiconductor innovation. The agreement marks the first time Hitachi and IBM have collaborated on semiconductor technology, the two companies currently work together on enterprise servers and other products. Miniaturisation of transistors, a driving force in improving the performance of computer chips, is being aggressively pursued in the development of next generation 32 and 22 nanometre devices. The feature size of such minute devices is in the realm of billionths of a metre, and effects at this scale can have a large impact on the electrical characteristics of individual transistors.
The new collaboration will focus on 32 nm and beyond semiconductor research and will use new methods that include the latest technologies to analyse semiconductor devices and structures in order to improve the characterisation and measurement of transistor variation, as well as to develop a better understanding of device physics. Engineers from the two companies and Hitachi's subsidiary, Hitachi High Technologies, will conduct joint research at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Centre in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. and at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering's Albany NanoTech Complex.
"Hitachi's cutting edge semiconductor characterisation capabilities, and IBM's state of the art CMOS research capabilities can help the two companies accelerate the pace of semiconductor innovation for the 32 nanometer generation and beyond," said Bernie Meyerson, vice president Strategic Alliances and CTO for IBM's Systems & Technology Group. "By combining individual research strength and intellectual property we reduce the significant costs associated with research needed to advance the next generation of chip technology."
"Hitachi's significant expertise in analytical instrumentation and semiconductor physics can promote industry leading research for next generation semiconductor technology," said Eiji Takeda, Vice President and Executive Officer, General Manager of Research & Development Group, Hitachi, Ltd. "Our two companies have a long history of successful business collaboration and we look forward to extending this to include the semiconductor metrology research arena."
IBM and Hitachi, through this collaborative research, intend to investigate the possibilities for even further transistor scaling.
The new collaboration will focus on 32 nm and beyond semiconductor research and will use new methods that include the latest technologies to analyse semiconductor devices and structures in order to improve the characterisation and measurement of transistor variation, as well as to develop a better understanding of device physics. Engineers from the two companies and Hitachi's subsidiary, Hitachi High Technologies, will conduct joint research at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Centre in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. and at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering's Albany NanoTech Complex.
"Hitachi's cutting edge semiconductor characterisation capabilities, and IBM's state of the art CMOS research capabilities can help the two companies accelerate the pace of semiconductor innovation for the 32 nanometer generation and beyond," said Bernie Meyerson, vice president Strategic Alliances and CTO for IBM's Systems & Technology Group. "By combining individual research strength and intellectual property we reduce the significant costs associated with research needed to advance the next generation of chip technology."
"Hitachi's significant expertise in analytical instrumentation and semiconductor physics can promote industry leading research for next generation semiconductor technology," said Eiji Takeda, Vice President and Executive Officer, General Manager of Research & Development Group, Hitachi, Ltd. "Our two companies have a long history of successful business collaboration and we look forward to extending this to include the semiconductor metrology research arena."
IBM and Hitachi, through this collaborative research, intend to investigate the possibilities for even further transistor scaling.
