This week, at the 2022 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEEE IEDM 2022), imec, a global research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, presents a Monte Carlo Boltzmann modelling framework that uses microscopic heat carrier distributions to predict 3D thermal transport in advanced RF devices intended for 5G and 6G wireless communication for the first time.

At the 2022 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEEE IEDM 2022), imec demonstrates a lanthanum-doped hafnium-zirconate (La:HZO)-based ferroelectric capacitor with high endurance (1011 cycles), high final remnant polarization (2PR = 30µC/cm2 at 1.8MV/cm) and reduced wake-up.

At the 2022 IEEE VLSI Symposium on Technology and Circuits, imec, a research and innovation centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, presents a scalable neural readout microchip featuring one of the world’s smallest recording channels for the simultaneous acquisition of local field potentials and action potentials in neurophysiology experiments.

At Future Summits 2022, imec announces that its Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS) research programme succeeded in bringing together stakeholders of the semiconductor value chain, from large system companies such as Apple and Microsoft, to suppliers, including ASM, Kurita, SCREEN and Tokyo Electron.

imec, a research and innovation centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, announces Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Founder of Breakthrough Energy, as the recipient of the Lifetime of Innovation Award 2022 for his impact on the computer software revolution.

Xanadu and imec have announced a partnership to develop the next-gen of photonic qubits based on ultra-low loss silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides, the partnership is to fabricate low loss and uniform silicon nitride circuits for error corrected qubits. 

Imec has presented a proof-of-concept for determining arterial stiffness, a risk marker for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart failure, and monitoring blood pressure. Imec’s approach uses an ultrasound sensor to measure the central pulse wave velocity.

Imec and AIXTRON have demonstrated epitaxial growth of gallium-nitride (GaN) buffer layers qualified for 1,200V applications on 200mm QST substrates, with a hard breakdown exceeding 1,800V. The manufacturability of 1,200V-qualified buffer layers opens doors to highest voltage GaN-based power applications such as electric cars, previously only with feasible silicon-carbide (SiC)-based technology.

At the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, imec demonstrated the capability of directed self-assembly (DSA) to pattern line/spaces with a pitch as small as 18nm, using a high-chi block copolymer (high-χ BCP) based process under high volume manufacturing (HVM) conditions.

At the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, imec and ASML presented several papers that demonstrate the ultimate single-exposure patterning capability of today’s 0.33NA NXE:3400 extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL).

At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), imec showcased its first IEEE 802.15.4z impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) transmitter chip striking a balance between UWB’s accurate and secure ranging capabilities for indoor localisation and the need for increased energy efficiency.

Imec has reported the use of a 13.5nm High Harmonic Generation source for the printing of 20nm pitch line/spaces using interference lithographic imaging of an Inpria metal-oxide resist under high-numerical-aperture (high-NA) conditions.

Achieving ultrasmall dimensions (13nm fin width and 50nm gate length), and fabricated with a CMOS-compatible process flow in imec’s 300mm cleanroom, imec envisions volume manufacturing and integration into high-throughput, cost-effective detection tools, with 10,000s of these ‘BioFETs’ working in parallel.

At the 2020 International Electron Devices Meeting, imec presented a novel dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cell architecture that implements two indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors (IGZO-TFTs) and no storage capacitor.

Imec has presented a prototype high-resolution short-wave-infrared (SWIR) image sensor with record small pixel pitch of 1.82 µm. It is based on a thin-film photodetector that is monolithically integrated on a custom Si-CMOS readout circuit. A fab-compatible process flow paves the way to high-throughput, wafer-level manufacturing. 

imec and XIMEA have announced their intensified collaboration that has resulted in a series of new hyperspectral cameras (xiSpec2). The cameras come with a high spectral fidelity and the necessary tools and after-sales support to match the needs of the rapidly evolving machine vision market, including guaranteed spectral data quality, ease of use, and calibration.

Researchers from COSIC, an imec research group at the University of Leuven in Belgium, have discovered major security flaws in the keyless entry system of the Tesla Model X.

Imec and CMST (an imec-affiliated research group at Ghent University), together with their partners the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz (Madrid, Spain) and Holst Centre (an open innovation initiative from imec and TNO, the Netherlands) have presented an artificial iris embedded in a smart contact lens.

This week at the virtual conference IEEE RFIC, imec presented a millimetre-wave motion detection radar at 60GHz, integrated in standard 28nm CMOS. Achieving 2-cm range resolution, the ultra-sensitive radar is optimized for vital sign monitoring and gesture recognition. The compact radar chip only consumes 62 mW, making the sensor integrable into small, battery-powered devices

Imec and GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) have announced a hardware demonstration of a new artificial intelligence chip. Based on imec’s Analog in Memory Computing (AiMC) architecture utilizing GF’s 22FDX solution, the new chip is optimized to perform deep neural network calculations on in-memory computing hardware in the analog domain.