| Type | Nonprofit company |
|---|---|
| Industry | micro- and nano-electronics,solar cell |
| Genre | Independent research center |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder(s) | Prof. Roger Van Overstraeten |
| Headquarters | Leuven, Belgium |
| Number of locations | Taiwan, Japan, USA, China, Netherlands and India |
| Key people | Luc Van den Hove, CEO |
| Services | Research, education |
| Revenue | 285 million Euro (2010) |
| Employees | 1,900 |
| Website | www.imec.be |
Imec (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) is a micro- and nanoelectronics research center headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China and Japan. Its staff of about 1,900 people includes more than 500 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2010, imec's revenue (P&L) was 285 million euro.
Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International (a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a "stichting van openbaar nut"), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish government), imec the Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is supported by the Dutch government), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.) and imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.).[1]
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The history of imec dates back to 1982 when the Flemish government started a comprehensive program in the field of microelectronics to strengthen the microelectronics industry in Flanders. One of the initiatives of the Flemish program was the establishment of a laboratory for advanced research in microelectronics, which was to become imec. imec built on the academic reputation and prominence of the Catholic University of Leuven (Katholiek Universiteit Leuven, or 'KUL') and in particular its ESAT laboratory. Another initiative was a training program for VLSI design engineers (INVOMEC & MTC, Microelectronics Training Center, now incorporated in imec). IMEC started in 1984 as a non-profit organization led by Professor Roger Van Overstraeten (Catholic University of Leuven), and under the supervision of a Board of Directors, with delegates from industry, Flemish universities, and the Flemish government. In June 1999, Professor Gilbert Declerck succeeded Roger Van Overstraeten as imec's CEO. IMOMEC (Institute for Materials Research in MicroElectronics) , since 2001 the department of IMEC at the university campus in Diepenbeek, is the largest research institute of Hasselt University In 2005, IMEC and TNO set up Holst Centre. Holst Centre is a research center with the mission to create generic technologies and enhance the innovative power in the fields of Wireless Autonomous Transducer Solutions and Systems-in-Foil. Holst Centre is located on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. By 2008, imec has grown into one of the world's premier micro- and nanoelectronics R&D centers, employing some 1,600 researchers and engineers. Crucially, imec now counts virtually all of the top semiconductor manufacturers among its core technology partners (eg Intel, Samsung, Panasonic, NVIDIA, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC, Hynix, ASML, Xilinx, Altera, Cadence Design Systems, Qualcomm, Renesas, Siltronic, etc.) as well as most of the major capital equipment developers and manufacturers. In 2010, imec changed its name from IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) to imec. imec hosts a number of yearly renowned conferences and technology review meetings (eg ARRM, UCPSS), and provides a unique space where new technologies and techniques can be assessed, developed, refined and validated.
The imec campus has 24,400m2 of office space, laboratories, training facilities, and technical support rooms. Showpieces are the two cleanrooms that run a semi-industrial operation. The newest infrastructure, compatible with the latest 300mm wafer standards, supports the More Moore research on sub-22 nm process technology. The second cleanroom handles wafers with a diameter of up to 200mm and is used for the More than Moore research. It supports semiconductor manufacturing processes with added functionality, such as sensors, actuators, and MEMS and NEMS. imec is currently in the process of extending its newest cleanroom facility and completion of the project is set for the Summer 2010. imec has, among others, a pilot line for silicon solar cells, unique laboratories for bioelectronics research, and state-of-the-art equipment for materials characterization and reliability testing. For the research on nomadic embedded systems, there are a DSP and multimedia lab, and the latest EDA tools.