文章资讯
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- 2014-11-07 Prototype boarding gate with built-in explosives detection
- Hitachi, in collaboration with The Nippon Signal and the University of Yamanashi, have successfully prototyped a boarding gate with built-in explosives detection equipment as part of efforts to increase safety in public facilities such as airports. The prototype boarding gate efficiently collects minute particles which have affixed themselves to IC cards or portable devices used as boarding passes, and can detect within 1-2 seconds the presence of explosive compounds using internalized equipment. With this method, it is possible to inspect 1,200 passengers per hour. The technology is expected to contribute to the prevention and containment of carry-on explosives as it inspects immediately prior to boarding without disrupting the flow of passengers, and provides increased security without affecting convenience.
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- 2014-11-07 Tokyo Electron and imec to accelerate directed self-assembly (DSA) development
Imec and Tokyo Electron (TEL) announce that they will accelerate their Directed Self-Assembly (DSA) activities at imec's recent 300mm fab-compatible DSA process line. Over the past two years, both companies have been actively engaged in DSA development. Based on promising results achieved on imec's 300mm DSA process line, imec and TEL will now expand their focus to explore DSA as a cost-effective and manufacturing viable patterning technique for 2x and beyond technologies.
Recent evaluations have demonstrated the feasibility of DSA to enable frequency multiplication through the use of block copolymers. Line features as small as 12.5nm and 25nm contact holes have been patterned on 300mm substrates at imec using pre-patterned lithography followed by DSA. In recent experiments using pre-patterned EUV holes, on wafers processed on TEL's CLEAN TRACK LITHIUS Pro coater/developer interfaced to ASML's NXE:3100, DSA repaired defective features, lowered line edge roughness (LER) and improved CD uniformity.
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- 2014-11-06 First sub-gigahertz wireless microcontroller using world's most energy-efficient 32-bit processor core
Freescale Semiconductor today announced the Kinetis KW01 wireless microcontroller (MCU), expanding its popular Kinetis MCU line with a device ideally suited for wirelessly networked smart energy applications.
Several protocols are emerging globally for outdoor and indoor smart energy networks that require robust communication and low power consumption. The Kinetis KW01 wireless MCU meets their requirements with a high-performance radio capable of up to 600 Kbps using complex modulation schemes (GFSK, MSK, GMSK and OOK) while operating at multiple frequencies in the range of 290 to 1020 MHz, supporting ISM bands in Japan, USA, Europe, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and others. Additionally, the on-board efficient, low-power CPU system is used to handle numerous network protocols.
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- 2014-11-06 NXP achieves ultra-low output voltage ripple with 6-MHz DC/DC converter
- NXP Semiconductors today announced its state-of-the-art DC6M DC/DC switching regulator family featuring a very high 6-MHz frequency, an ultra-low output voltage ripple performance of 7 mV, and high efficiency up to 95 percent. The DC6M family supports up to 650 mA supply current in a very small wafer-level chip-scale package (WLCSP6), measuring only 1.36 x 0.96 x 0.47 mm. With an input voltage range from 2.3 to 5.5 V, the new DC/DC converters are ideally suited for battery-driven portable devices such as smartphones, as well as other consumer devices where reliable, efficient power management is essential and space is limited.
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- 2014-11-06 Fujitsu Semiconductor releases Interface Bridge SoC incorporating 10 different interfaces
Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited today announced the development of Interface Bridge SoC "MB86E631," which brings together a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a host of different interfaces, all on a single chip. Sample quantities of the new product will begin shipping in late December 2012.
MB86E631 incorporates a total of 10 different interfaces, including USB, Serial ATA, PCI Express, Ethernet MAC, and TS. As a result, the new product is an LSI featuring performance and functionality that has been optimized for CPUs for transcoder LSI control, as well as for products requiring control of a wide variety of interfaces.
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- 2014-11-06 ASML microchips says paying 1.95 bn euros for US Cymer
- Dutch microchip manufacturing equipment maker ASML said on Wednesday it was acquiring US company Cymer for 1.95 billion euros to develop equipment for making the next generation of processors.
"ASML and Cymer have entered into a definitive agreement under which ASML will acquire all outstanding shares of Cymer in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at 1.95 billion euros ($2.55 billion," an ASML statement said.
ASML is one of the world's leading manufacturers of lithography systems used by the semiconductor industry to make integrated circuits and microchips while Cymer makes the light sources used in the lithography systems.
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- 2014-11-06 Semiconductors with electric and magnetic properties
European scientists developed solid-state semiconductor components with magnetic properties, a prerequisite for a new generation of electronic devices exploiting both the charge and the spin of electrons.
Conventional electronics are based on the flow of electrons, negative charge carriers. Magnetic systems rely on principles governing electron spin, a quantum physical phenomenon related to angular momentum.
The angular momentum associated with spin produces a magnetic field. In most materials, magnetic fields of individual atoms cancel one another. In magnetic materials of various types, generally metals, atomic dipole moments become aligned (polarised) producing macroscopic magnetic fields.
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- 2014-11-06 Film capacitors: LCap combines capacitor and choke
TDK Corporation presents the LCap, a new film capacitor from EPCOS for motor applications. LCap combines an AC capacitor with a choke coil in a single case, cutting costs and halving assembly times. Savings also result from the fact that only two leads are now required instead of four as before. The choke coil is molded into the capacitor case, leading to further benefits such as reduced sensitivity to external influences as well as higher long-term stability compared to discrete solutions. LCap is available with capacitances from 3 µF to 50 µF and inductances from 5 µH to 100 µH and is designed for rated voltages from 250 V AC to 450 V AC. Other values can be implemented on a customer-specific basis.
Typical applications of the combined components of the B32350 series are TRIAC drives for AC induction motors of the kind used in washing machines and tumble dryers. These circuits have two TRIACs, one of which is driven at a time so that the motor rotates in a specific direction. The capacitor of the LCap is used to generate a second phase. Its inductor protects the TRIACs in the event that they are incorrectly driven simultaneously and thus cause a short circuit.
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- 2014-11-06 Researchers develop new packaging technology enabling 90% power combining efficiency
- Fujitsu Laboratories today announced the development of a new packaging technology that enables the development of millimeter-wave power amplifiers that can be employed in applications such as automotive radar and wireless communications devices.
One effective way to produce compact, low-cost millimeter-wave transceivers is to integrate high-frequency RF circuitry onto a CMOS(3) chip. At the same time, for normal CMOS circuitry, which operates at low voltages, the high power amplifiers employed in transmitters has proven a challenge that has served as a roadblock to integration. As a result, there has been a need for a technology that can enable CMOS power amplifiers to achieve higher output.
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- 2014-11-06 Joint carbon nanotube memory program for high-density, next-generation memory below 20nm launched
- Imec, a world-leading research institution in nanoelectronics and Nantero, Inc., a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, have announced a joint development program. The collaboration will focus on the carbon-nanotube-based memory developed by Nantero, NRAM, and its application in high-density next-generation memories with a size under 20nm. NRAM arrays will be manufactured, tested and characterized in imec's advanced nanoelectronics facilities.
Carbon nanotube memory is based on the carbon nanotube, "CNTs", cylindrical carbon molecules about a nanometer across and up to a millimeter long, which exhibit extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties and efficient heat conduction, making carbon nanotubes a highly promising material for future memories.
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- 2014-11-06 Ex-MIT company rethinks power-feasting amplifiers
- (Phys.org)—Technologists generally agree that power amplifiers have proven to be inefficient pieces of hardware. Turning electricity into radio signals, they eat into the battery life of smartphones and they waste power. One may find that a cellular phone cannot stream live video without running down the battery in minutes. Now a team of engineers have come up with an alternative amplifier technology that can extend smartphone battery life. Eta Devices, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts with an office in Stockholm, and cofounded by two MIT electrical engineering professors, Joel Dawson and David Perreault, offers a new amplifier design. The result is described in Technology Review as a "blazingly fast electronic gearbox." The engineers call their approach "asymmetric multilevel outphasing (AMO)." It is able to "intelligently" select, among voltages that can be sent across the transistor, the one that minimizes power consumption.
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- 2014-11-06 Development of compact model for tunnel field-effect transistors
Japanese researchers have developed a compact model for circuit simulation to predict the circuit behavior of tunnel field-effect transistors (tunnel FETs). This device-operation model simulates current–voltage characteristics by predicting the electric field distribution in a tunnel FET and estimating the tunnel current. It is described in Verilog-A language and therefore can be incorporated into existing major circuit simulators. The model is expected to contribute to the design of tunnel FETs aiming at the realization of ultra-low-power circuits.
In recent years, with the wide spread of mobile information devices and the increasing sophistication of IT equipment, there has been growing concern about increasing power consumption. There has also been growing social demand for reduction in the power consumption of electronic information devices. However, reduction in the power consumption of conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) is reaching its limit. Breakthrough, revolutionary low-power large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) are required to build a low-carbon society.
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- 2014-11-05 Imec reports customized lenslet array for KLA-Tencor's advanced e-beam tool
- Imec announces that it has designed and fabricated an electrostatic micro-lens (lenslet) array for KLA-Tencor's anticipated Reflective Electron Beam Lithography (REBL) tool. The REBL technology potentially enables a high throughput e-beam writing process for maskless lithography. The lenslet array is a key component for the parallelization of the e-beam writing process. Functionality of the lenslet chip was demonstrated in KLA-Tencor's REBL e-beam column.
The lenslet consists of a densely packed array of 4µm deep cylindrical holes with a 1.4 µm diameter and top spacing of only 200nm. The electron beam entering the lenslet holes is focused through a set of 4 ring electrodes. The ring electrodes can be tuned to focus the electron beams by applying static voltages up to 50V on the ring electrodes. The bottom of each hole consists of a small metal plate that can be switched by a CMOS circuitry below, either reflecting or absorbing the incoming electrons. - See Details
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- 2014-11-05 Semiconductor devices: Under mounting stress
- The recently developed ability to measure physical changes in silicon when processed into microelectronic devices could improve fabrication techniques for even smaller circuits.
Thinner semiconductor wafers to house electronic circuits are needed so that more computing power can be packed into ever-smaller electrical products. Thinning, however, makes the wafers brittle and prone to warping or breaking. A technique for measuring the stress in those chips during production is now available, thanks to developmental work led by Xiaowu Zhang at the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore. The resulting information could enable miniature but robust semiconductor devices.
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- 2014-11-05 Fujitsu Semiconductor aims to start production of GaN power devices
- Fujitsu Semiconductor today announced that it successfully achieved high output power of 2.5kW in server power supply units equipped with gallium-nitride (GaN) power devices built on a silicon substrate. Fujitsu Semiconductor aims to start volume production of the GaN power devices in the second half of 2013. These devices will enable Fujitsu Semiconductor to propose their use in a wide variety of value-enhancing power supply applications, significantly contributing to the realization of a low-carbon society. Fujitsu Semiconductor is aiming to achieve approximately 10 billion yen in sales of GaN power devices in fiscal 2015.
Compared to conventional silicon-based power devices, GaN-based power devices feature characteristics such as lower on-resistance and the ability to perform high-frequency operations. These characteristics are expected to contribute to improvements in the conversion efficiency of power supply units and make them more compact. - See Details
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- 2014-11-05 Freescale: World's most advanced powertrain microcontroller, helping drive auto industry to 55 MPG
Freescale Semiconductor today announced the new Qorivva MPC5777M multicore microcontroller (MCU), the latest advancement in its extensive Qorivva product line. This advanced MCU family will help automakers worldwide address regional automotive fuel economy and safety trends by providing outstanding performance for a new generation of engine management solutions.
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- 2014-11-05 New technology for semiconductor film production on highly liquid-repellent surfaces
- Japanese researchers have developed a manufacturing technology for highly uniform thin films of organic polymer semiconductors without material losses by applying the semiconductor solution on a highly hydrophobic surface that strongly repels the solution. The technology allows remarkably simple production of high performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) that are indispensable building blocks for information terminal devices such as electronic papers.
It is known that conventional solution (or wet) processes for thin-film production is not compatible with highly liquid-repellent (or hydrophobic) surfaces, although the employment of such surfaces as the gate dielectric surfaces is quite effective in improving the stability of TFT characteristics. In this study, the researchers developed a new "push coating" technique to produce organic polymer semiconductor films on highly hydrophobic surfaces, where a solution of organic polymer semiconductor is compressed with an original silicone-rubber-based trilayer stamp to wet the hydrophobic surfaces uniformly by way of the capillarity. - See Details
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- 2014-11-05 Smallest logic circuit fabricated with single-electron transistors
- (Phys.org)—In order to meet the growing demand for small-scale, low-power computing, researchers have been aggressively downscaling silicon-based computing components. These components include transistors and logic circuits, both of which are used to process data in electronic devices by controlling voltage. However, the smallest type of logic circuit, called a half-adder, has not yet been fabricated on as small a scale as it could be.
In a new study, a team of researchers from South Korea, Japan, and the UK has fabricated a half-adder logic circuit using just five transistors Their paper, titled "One electron-based smallest flexible logic cell," is published in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters.
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- 2014-11-05 GaN power devices: Researchers achieve high output of 2.5kW in power supply units for servers
- Fujitsu Semiconductor announced that it achieved high output power of 2.5kW in server power supply units equipped with gallium-nitride (GaN) power devices built on a silicon substrate. Fujitsu Semiconductor aims to start volume production of the GaN power devices in the second half of 2013. These devices will enable Fujitsu Semiconductor to propose their use in a wide variety of value-enhancing power supply applications, significantly contributing to the realization of a low-carbon society. Fujitsu Semiconductor is aiming to achieve approximately 10 billion yen in sales of GaN power devices in fiscal 2015.
Compared to conventional silicon-based power devices, GaN-based power devices feature characteristics such as lower on-resistance and the ability to perform high-frequency operations. These characteristics are expected to contribute to improvements in the conversion efficiency of power supply units and make them more compact. Fujitsu Semiconductor is aiming to commercialize GaN power devices on a silicon substrate, which, with increases in the diameters of silicon wafers, enables low-cost production. - See Details
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- 2014-11-05 Spanish scientists design a revolutionary data storage device
- University of Granada researchers have developed a revolutionary data storage device in collaboration with the CEA-LETI lab at Grenoble (France), an institution of the Campus of International Excellence CEI BioTic. The researchers have designed one of the most advanced data storage devices in the world. The invention is protected with ten international patents including Japan, USA, Corea and the European Union. Important companies such as Samsung and Hynix (Corea) and Micron (USA) have shown interest in this innovative data storage device.
The researchers at the University of Granada Nanoelectronics Lab Noel Rodríguez and Francisco Gámiz have designed an Advanced Random Access Memory (A-RAM). The researchers developed the theoretical model of this new technology in 2009. The CEA-LETI lab –which has developed one of the most advanced nanoelectronic technologies in the world– have designed a device that experimentally confirms the results previously obtained in theoretical studies.
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- 2014-11-05 Low-power industrial ethernet communication chips with integrated real-time OS offload engine
Renesas Electronics today announced the R-IN32M3 series of industrial Ethernet communication chips with support for multiple communication protocols in response to the rapid adoption of industrial Ethernet communication technology.
One of the most distinctive features of the R-IN32M3 is the high-speed operation with the basic function of the real-time OS in hardware to implement high-speed real-time response and high-precision communication control for industrial Ethernet communication. Because the hardware in the new R-IN32M3 series covers heavy load operations for the CPU, the combination of the CPU and integrated real-time OS offload engine (HW-RTOS) result in ultra-high-speed real-time responsiveness five to ten times that of a conventional software real-time OS.
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- 2014-11-05 Ultra low-power consumption 16K bit FRAM: Extending battery lifetime, minimizing PCB space for portable equipments
- Fujitsu has been supplying MB85RC16 with standard package, SOP-8. The new SON-8 plastic LCC (Leadless Chip Carrier) package with a dimension of 3x2 mm reduces the mounting space by 80 per cent in comparison to the SOP-8 package (see figure 1). The combination of small footprint and ultra low power consumption makes the MB85RC16 a perfect non-volatile memory solution for portable and sensing applications in medical and industrial segments. With this product, customer can significantly extend battery lifetime and minimise their PCB (Printed Circuit Board) space.
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- 2014-11-04 Fast forward to the past: Technologists test 'game-changing' data-processing technology
It's a digital world. Or is it? NASA technologist Jonathan Pellish isn't convinced. In fact, he believes a computing technology of yesteryear could potentially revolutionize everything from autonomous rendezvous and docking to remotely correcting wavefront errors on large, deployable space telescope mirrors like those to fly on the James Webb Space Telescope.
"It's fast forward to the past," Pellish said, referring to an emerging processing technology developed by a Cambridge, Mass.-based company, Analog Devices Lyric Labs.
So convinced is he of its potential, Pellish is meeting with scientists and engineers to explain the technology's capabilities and is using fiscal year 2013 NASA Center Innovation Fund resources to build printed circuit boards that researchers can use to test the technology's performance for a range of scientific applications. Pellish works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.- See Details
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- 2014-11-04 New CMOS image sensor created with on-circuit color noise reduction lowers pixel noise and improves image quality
Toshiba America Electronic Components announced a new 13 mega pixel, 1.12 micrometer, CMOS image sensor delivering high-image quality equivalent to a 1.4 micrometer pixel image sensor. Toshiba implemented back side illumination (BSI) technology and integrated color noise reduction (CNR) to develop its newest CMOS image sensor that fits into an 8.5mm x 8.5mm size camera module and enables high-quality pictures even in low-light conditions.
"As mobile devices like smartphones and tablets get smaller and thinner, the pixel size of image sensors needs to shrink accordingly," said Andrew Burt, vice president of the Analog and Imaging Business Unit, System LSI Group at TAEC. "However, the miniaturization of pixel size reduces the amount of light entering into the pixel which impacts image quality. Toshiba addresses the challenge of pixel miniaturization with its newest CMOS image sensor."
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- 2014-11-04 New line of SDIP6 photocouplers: ICs contribute to smaller footprints, reduced costs
Toshiba America Electronic Components has announced the addition of the TLP700A and TLP705A to its family of photocouplers. The new photocouplers from Toshiba are housed in small packages (SDIP6) – half the size of conventional 8 pin DIP packages, and consist of a GaAIAs infrared light-emitting diode (LED) optically coupled to an integrated high-gain, high-speed photodetector IC chip.
Toshiba's TLP700A can directly drive a middle-capacity IGBT or power MOSFET. With a guaranteed transmission delay skew, ideal for designing dead time for inverters, this product achieves a shorter transmission delay time - approximately one half that of the existing model. With improved peak output current and operating ambient temperature, the TLP700A is suitable for use in high temperature environments.- See Details
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- 2014-11-04 Taiwan engineers defeat limits of flash memory
(Phys.org)—Taiwan-based Macronix has found a solution for a weakness in flash memory fadeout. A limitation of flash memory is simply that eventually it cannot be used; the more cells in the memory chips are erased, the less useful to store data. The write-erase cycles degrade insulation; eventually the cell fails. "Flash wears out after being programmed and erased about 10,000 times," said the IEEE Spectrum. Engineers at Macronix have a solution that moves flash memory over to a new life. They propose a "self-healing" NAND flash memory solution that can survive over 100 million cycles.
News of their findings appears in the IEEE Spectrum, discussing flash memory's limitations and the Taiwan company's solution. Macronix is a manufacturer in the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) market, with a NOR Flash, NAND Flash, and ROM products. Before their solution announcement, though, many engineers inside and outside of Macronix were aware of a life-giving workaround: heat. The snag is that applying heat was not found to be practical.- See Details
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- 2014-11-04 Copper, gold and tin for efficient chips
With gold, copper or tin and special galvanizing processes, scientists are improving the function of semi-conductors and making the manufacture of microelectronic systems a child's play. Especially the LED industry could profit from this.
They are particularly small, durable and economical: LEDs have conquered theautomotive industry; it is already possible today to recognize the make of a car by the design of the LED headlights. Whether in the interior, displays, infotainment system or brake lights, parking lights or fog lights – a modern car offers many possibilities for LED technology to be used for lighting. Unlike the traditional halogen or xenon lights, light emitting diodes need LED drivers. Their most important task: they must continuously supply the light diodes with power. In addition, they are to carry out complex tasks and to control, for example, several LEDs in series, or switch individual ones on in multiple stages if the interior lighting is to be dimmable.
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- 2014-11-04 Researchers develop the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor ever built
Silicon's crown is under threat: The semiconductor's days as the king of microchips for computers and smart devices could be numbered, thanks to the development of the smallest transistor ever to be built from a rival material, indium gallium arsenide.
The compound transistor, built by a team in MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories, performs well despite being just 22 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in length. This makes it a promising candidate to eventually replace silicon in computing devices, says co-developer Jesús del Alamo, the Donner Professor of Science in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), who built the transistor with EECS graduate student Jianqian Lin and Dimitri Antoniadis, the Ray and Maria Stata Professor of Electrical Engineering.
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- 2014-11-04 Silicon-verified process technology delivers 30% higher speed and up to 50% improvement in power
STMicroelectronics announced today another step towards the availability of its 28nm FD-SOI Technology Platform, now open for pre-production from its Crolles (France) 300mm manufacturing facility. The announcement confirms ST's ability to provide its planar fully-depleted technology from the 28nm technology node, essential in quenching the market's appetite for embedded processors in multimedia and portable applications that can meet the industry's highest performance and lowest power demands vital to deliver all the stunning graphics, multimedia and high-speed broadband connectivity without sacrificing battery life.
The announcement coincides with a workshop on fully-depleted-silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies held by the FD-SOI Consortium in San Francisco.
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- 2014-11-04 Ultra-thin hybrid floating gate cell presented at IEDM2012
Imec has developed an ultra-thin hybrid floating gate cell with demonstrated functionality. The results, which are presented at this week's 2012 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM, San Francisco, December 10-12, 2012), are an important step for further scaling of NAND Flash technology towards the 10nm half pitch node and beyond.
The increasing need for high density flash memory has driven the scaling of the technology down to the 19nm half pitch node which is currently in production. However, from such dimensions on, the Control Gate (CG) can no longer be wrapped around the Floating Gate (FG), urging for a planar floating gate architecture. But planarising the technology results in a reduced coupling of the CG and FG. Consequently, the performance degrades due to leakage through the Interpoly dielectric (IPD).- See Details