IMEC

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For the nonprofit medical organization, see International Medical Equipment Collaborative.
imec
Type Nonprofit company
Industry micro- and nano-electronics, solar cell
Genre Independent research center
Founded 1984
Founder(s) 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 320 million Euro (2012)[1]
Employees 2000
Website www.imec.be

Coordinates: 50°51′55.5″N 4°40′46.5″E / 50.865417°N 4.679583°E / 50.865417; 4.679583

Imec, formerly the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre, is a micro- and nanoelectronics research center headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, India and Japan. Its staff of about 2,000 people includes more than 600 industrial residents and guest researchers.[1]

History

In 1982 the Flemish Government started a program to strengthen the microelectronics industry in Flanders. The program established a laboratory for advanced research in microelectronics, built on the academic reputation and prominence of the KU Leuven university, and in particular its ESAT laboratory. Another initiative was a training program for VLSI design engineers (INVOMEC and MTC, Microelectronics Training Center, now incorporated in Imec). IMEC started in 1984 as a non-profit organization led by Professor Roger Van Overstraeten 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. The Institute for Materials Research in MicroElectronics (IMOMEC ), since 2001 the department of IMEC at the university campus in Diepenbeek, is the largest research institute of Hasselt University. In 2005, IMEC and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research set up Holst Centre. Holst Centre is a research center 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 employed 1,600 researchers and engineers. Technology partners include Intel, Samsung, Panasonic, NVIDIA, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, GlobalFoundries, TSMC, Hynix, ASML, Xilinx, Altera, Cadence Design Systems, Qualcomm, Renesas, Siltronic. In 2010, the center changed its name to imec. Imec hosts conferences and technology review meetings (e.g. ARRM, UCPSS), and provides a space where new technologies and techniques can be assessed, developed, refined and validated.

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), and subsidiaries in other countries. In 2012, imec's revenue was 320 million euro.[1]

Campus

The imec campus contains office space, laboratories, training facilities, and technical support rooms. Two cleanrooms run a semi-industrial operation. The 300mm wafer equipment 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 sensors, actuators, and MEMS and NEMS. Imec has, among others, a pilot line for silicon solar cells, unique laboratories for bioelectronics research, and equipment for materials characterization and reliability testing. For research on nomadic embedded systems, there are a DSP and multimedia lab, with EDA tools.

Research domains

  • sub-22 nm CMOS
  • CMOS heterogeneous integration
  • Human++: wearable medical devices
  • Life-Science technologies such as integrated micro-PCR, Neuroprosthetics, chips for in-vitro diagnostics, DNA sequencing and hybridisation, protein detection sensor technolgoy
  • Wireless communication
  • Nvision
  • Energy
  • NERF-Neuroelectronics Research Flanders
  • CMOS-based nanoelectronics
  • Nanotechnology and post-CMOS nanoelectronics
  • Characterisation, reliability and modelling
  • Multi-mode multimedia (M4) technologies
  • Wireless autonomous transducer solutions
  • Solar cells
  • Large-area CMOS-based Image Sensors (Back-illuminated CIS)
  • Advanced packaging and interconnection technologies ([Bumping], [WLP])
  • 3D-chip stacking (Through-Silicon Vias)
  • Power-efficient devices based on III-V Materials (GaN, GaAs...)
  • Organic electronics
  • RF devices and technology
  • MEMS for RF and millimeterwave applications
  • Design methodologies and technology in the context of EDA
  • Power MEMS
  • EUVL

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "About imec: Company profile". Web site. Retrieved 10 July 2013. 

External links

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