At this week’s European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (27th EUPVSEC, 24/08-28/08), imec, RENA and SoLayTec present thin (165µm), large area (156x156mm2) i-PERC-type Silicon solar cells with ALD (atomic layer deposition) passivation achieving a cell efficiency of 19.6% without selective emitter using an industrial screen printing process flow.

Imec announced today that it has integrated an ultra-thin, flexible chip with bendable and stretchable interconnects into a package that adapts dynamically to curving and bending surfaces. The resulting circuitry can be embedded in medical and lifestyle applications where user comfort and unobtrusiveness is key, such as wearable health monitors or smart clothing.

Imec announced today a high number of engagements at this year’s IEEE International Electron Device Meeting in San Francisco, December 8-12, 2012.Solidifying its leading position as a global R&D center solving key challenges of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, imec will present one plenary talk, feature two invited presentations, deliver one tutorial, and present 9 papers from imec researchers as first authors and 5 pape...

Pacific Biosciences and imec have revealed a multi-year research collaboration focused on the development of advanced microchips for highly multiplexed single molecule genetic analysis. This research and development project will build on Pacific Biosciences’ proprietary zero-mode waveguide technology and imec’s world-leading expertise in nanophotonics, CMOS sensors, technology integration and fabrication.

Imec and Tokyo Electron announce that they will accelerate their Directed Self-Assembly activities at imec’s recent 300 mm fab-compatible DSA process line. Over the past two years, both companies have been actively engaged in DSA development.

At this week’s Intersolar Show in San Francisco (July 9-12, 2012), imec presents a 20.04% large-area industrial-level silicon solar cell (certification results from Fraunhofer ISE-Callab). The cell combines a high efficiency with a low-cost industrial process.

In the effort to enhance the advanced metal-high-k gate stack for next-generation logic devices, imec successfully demonstrated higher-k dielectric with Replacement Metal Gate (Metal-Gate-Last) transistors that achieved 200x-1000x reduction in gate leakage relative to leading-edge logic devices in the industry with HfO2 high-k gate dielectric.

At this week’s VLSI Technology Symposium (Honolulu, Hawaii, USA), imec presents significant improvements in performance and reliability of RRAM cells by process improvements and clever stack-engineering, and imec introduces a new modeling approach increasing the fundamental understanding of RRAM process technology.

Today, imec and Panasonic Inc. have entered into the next phase of a comprehensive and broadened collaboration agreement for joint R&D on healthcare, wireless communication, flexible electronics and advanced CMOS process technologies. The signing ceremony at the Panasonic Headquarters in Osaka (Japan) today was endorsed by the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium.

Imec is successfully testing and evaluating various options for further transistor scaling using high-k dielectrics and metal gates in a replacement metal gate integration schema. Although RMG technology is inherently more complex than gate-first integration, it has a number of advantages that allow increasing the device performance and that widen the choices in terms of high-k and metal gate materials.

Kaneka and imec report a large area (6 inch semi-square) heterojunction silicon solar cell with a certified (by Fraunhofer ISE CalLab) power conversion efficiency of 22.68% with an electroplated copper contact grid on top of the transparent conductive oxide layer. This breakthrough is achieved at Kaneka Osaka lab using Kaneka’s copper electroplating technology which is based on imec’s state-of-the-art copper electroplating knowhow.

Today Tohoku University and imec signed a collaboration agreement in the presence of his Royal Highness Prince Philip of Belgium during the Belgian economic mission to Japan. Under the agreement, Tohoku University and imec will work closely together in various common areas of research, learning from each other’s expertise and leveraging each other’s strengths.

Imec and Holst Centre have demonstrated a single-chip electrochemical sensor for ethylene monitoring with a detection limit of 200-300ppb (parts per billion). Imec and Holst Centre’s solution enables small-size and low-cost ethylene detection systems applicable in the fruit distribution and retail sector.

Imec, in collaboration with Panasonic, has developed a prototype of a 60GHz radio transceiver allowing to reach data rates of 7Gbps over short distances at very low power consumption. The chip achieves this performance over the 4 channels specified by the IEEE802.11ad standard. Imec’s low-power 60GHz solution is an important step towards adoption of 60GHz technology in low-cost battery-operated consumer products such as smart phones and tablets...

Imec today publishes its results of 2011. Despite a challenging economic climate, the imec board today concluded at the annual general assembly that imec realized a 5% positive growth to a revenue of 300 million euro.

Ghent University and imec announce the launch of IPKISS as open source software platform. IPKISS is a generic and modular software framework for parametric design of photonic integrated components and circuits. The software platform is made available by means of a GPLv2-licensed code base (free of charge), a custom developer license and a custom commercial license. With this launch, Ghent University and imec provide the integrated photonics desi...

At this year’s Symposia on VLSI Technology and VLSI Circuits (June 12-15, 2012 - Honolulu, USA,), imec and its partners will present 10 papers on memory and logic scaling technology and circuits. With 4 RRAM (resistive RAM) papers accepted, the VLSI reviewing committee endorses the value of imec’s R&D program on emerging memory devices. And 5 papers will address logic device scaling and characterization for next-generation CMOS technologies.

Today, the second edition of the International Conference on Silicon Photovoltaics takes off in Leuven (Belgium). The Si PV conference is a high-level scientific conference on advanced crystalline silicon solar cell technology. This 2nd edition is hosted by imec, a well-known leading R&D center in the domain of nanotechnology with a long-standing tradition in photovoltaics (PV). The conference features inspiring invited lectures, oral and poster ...

Imec today announces that it has released an early-version PDK (process development kit) for 14nm logic chips. This PDK is the industry’s first to address the 14nm technology node. It targets the introduction of a number of new key technologies, such as FinFET technology and EUV lithography. The PDK is made available to imec’s partners, and will be followed by incremental updates. Imec and its partners are developing a 14nm test chip to be re...

HiSilicon and imec have signed a strategic research collaboration to develop innovative RF transceiver architectures for next-generation mobile terminals. With the partnership, HiSilicon joins imec’s R&D program on cognitive reconfigurable radio to jointly conceive low-power and compact high-performance reconfigurable RF transceivers leveraging on state-of-the-art CMOS technology.