May 24, 2007 – Korean memory chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor Inc. has joined IMEC’s 32nm memory R&D program, which now boasts participation from the top five global memory chipmakers (Samsung, Elpida, Micron, and Qimonda).

As part of the deal, Hynix will collaborate within IMEC’s advanced lithography program addressing immersion and EUV lithography challenges, and within IMEC’s nonvolatile memory program, which has seen activity in recent months with floating gate and nitride memory materials research. A team of Hynix engineers will move to Leuven, Belgium starting in June.

Hynix views the partnership as a way to lessen the risks (and costs) involved with leading-edge technology development, as well as a way to expand work with other firms “and contribute to the growth of the semiconductor industry,” according to Dr. Park Sung-Wook, EVP and head of Hynix’s R&D division, in a statement.

Hynix brings to the table its know-how in memory scaling, “an important asset for our global research platform,” noted Gilbert Declerck, IMEC president/CEO.

Beyond the top memory firms, IMEC’s 32nm CMOS R&D program also includes participation from a number of logic IDMs and foundries, including Infineon, Intel, NXP, Panasonic, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and TSMC, in an effort to foster “a unique interaction and cross-fertilization,” IMEC noted.