Intermolecular: R&D tools key to rein in costs

yanuntianshi

When IC fabrication process shrinks to sub-65nm geometry, performance enhancement mainly sterns from materials rather than just size scaling. This implies that leading foundries and IC design houses that adopt suitable R&D tool/platforms could save considerable R&D resources, said David Lazovsky, company president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Intermolecular, a US-based semiconductor R&D lab tools supplier.
Lazovsky noted that when IC production rule shrinks to 32nm or 22nm, and packaging technologies advance to 3D packaging or through-wafer interconnection methods, material and process development consumes vast investments. The production value of chipmakers will average only an 8.5% growth during 2004-2020 but R&D investment will grow by over 12% during the same period, Lazovsky said.
Production-related materials and process R&D works were handled by materials and equipment suppliers in the past with chipmakers not participating much, said Lazovsky. But as material and equipment suppliers allocate less to research, the growing investment burden is passed onto chipmakers, thus highlighting the importance of seeking appropriate materials and production process within a short period of time.
Lazovsky emphasized that Intermolecular's integrated combinatorial semiconductor R&D platforms can perform multiple sorting and testing on a single piece of wafer that is fabricated under different processes/materials. These solutions can shorten development time considerably, he said. Lazovsky added that Intermolecular is working with leading Taiwan-based foundries on a platform for high-k and low-leakage processes.