February 24, 2011 – GLOBE NEWSWIRE — FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) and CEA-Leti entered into a three year agreement to characterize advanced semiconductor materials for the 22nm technology node and beyond. European-based CEA-Leti, with its two partners on the NanoCharacterization Platform of MINATEC Campus, CEA-Liten (new materials for new energies) and CEA-INAC (Nanoscience Institute), will apply their expertise in holography and nanobeam diffraction. FEI will provide advanced nanobeam diffraction technology with its Titan scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM). The companies will measure strain changes in semiconductor structures.
"The research will focus on two important areas: use of holography with the Titan’s unique XFEG electron source to improve the sensitivity of dopant profiling, and the use of nanobeam diffraction techniques to measure changes in strain and other crystallographic parameters," said George Scholes, vice president and general manager for FEI’s S/TEM product line.
"We must improve the sensitivity, accuracy and throughput of dopant profiling in order to continue supporting shrinking device dimensions. And a better understanding of the effects of strain is critical in the development of higher performance IC devices as we continue to push the technology to the 22nm technology node and beyond," stated Rudy Kellner, vice president and general manager of FEI’s Electronics Division.
According to Laurent Malier, CEO of CEA-Leti, FEI offers a powerful, widely available microscope as well as expertise in nanobeam diffraction applications.
For more information, visit http://www.fei.com or www.leti.fr.
CEA is a French research and technology organization, with activities in four main areas: energy, information technologies, healthcare technologies and defence and security. Within CEA, the Laboratory for Electronics & Information Technology (CEA-Leti) works with companies in order to increase their competitiveness through technological innovation and transfers. CEA-Leti is focused on micro and nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems, to biology and healthcare or photonics. Nanoelectronics and microsystems (MEMS) are at the core of its activities.
FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) is a diversified scientific instruments company. It is a premier provider of electron- and ion-beam microscopes and tools for nanoscale applications across many industries: industrial and academic materials research, life sciences, semiconductors, data storage, natural resources and more.
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