R&D hub supports accelerates process design

Strong R&D interactions between manufacturers and suppliers at an early stage of development help to accelerate advancements, allowing for efficient cost sharing, minimalised risk and optimised returns on investment.

Suppliers joining imec’s supplier hub have the ability to assess their tools on product stacks, develop process control, hardware/software options and integrate materials. As part of the joint R&D agreement, SCREEN will advance process development on its AquaSpin SU-3200 single wafer cleaners for FEOL and BEOL applications as well as SOKUDO DUO coat/develop track processes for lithography patterning.

“Imec’s supplier hub aims to offer a neutral, open innovation R&D platform that involves suppliers more deeply and at an early stage of process step and module development,” said Luc Van den Hove, President & CEO, imec. “SCREEN Semiconductor’s advanced lithography track, cleaning and etching tools are paramount to imec’s research platform on advanced semiconductor process technologies, and we are extremely pleased to strengthen our ecosystem, following other companies who have also recently joined imec’s supplier hub.”

“Our extended imec collaboration enables SCREEN to perform joint state-of-the-art R&D and continue to provide innovative solutions for advance semiconductor manufacturing,” said Tadahiro Suhara, President of SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions. “The supplier hub environment facilitates our early development in front and back end-of-line cleaning as well as lithography patterning technologies for the 7nm node and beyond.”