Lam and imec expand processing partnership
The partnership will combine Lam's tools and imec's integration capabilities to develop patterning and metallisation solutions for next generation CMOS process technologies.
More than ever, equipment and material suppliers are playing a key role in collectively tackling the scaling challenges posed by today's fast-evolving, equipment-intensive, consolidating semiconductor landscape.
Strong R&D interactions between manufacturers and suppliers at an early stage of development help to accelerate technology advancements, enabling very efficient cost sharing, minimising risk, and optimising the return on investmen of IDMs and foundries as well as for equipment suppliers.
"Lam Research has been a strategic partner in imec's research platform on advanced semiconductor process technologies for more than a decade. Throughout the years, Lam's tools and processes have been indispensable in the advancement of consecutive technology nodes," says An Steegen, senior vice president process technology at imec. "Together, Lam Researching, deposition and metallisation solutions for future technology generations.Developing the next technology node comes with ever more complexity, and imec's supplier hub aims at offering a neutral, open innovation R&D platform that involves suppliers more deeply and at an early stage of process step and module development."
Suppliers joining imec's supplier hub concept have the ability to assess their tools on product stacks, develop process control and hardware/software options, and integrate new materials. For imec's partners, the increased involvement of the suppliers will ensure continued access to best-in-class infrastructure and novel materials for process step and module development on next-generation technologies.
"Lam is extremely pleased to become part of imec's supplier hub, and work with the organisation on advanced patterning R&D,"comments Rick Gottscho, executive vice president of Lam's Global Products Group."We believe that the combination of Lam's process equipment expertise and imec's in-depth knowledge of integration schemes will allow this partnership to develop the technologies needed to manufacture the chips of tomorrow."
