Tag Archives: letter-pulse-top

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) is proud to announce the award recipients honored at the 2018 GSA Awards Dinner Celebration that took place last evening in Santa Clara, California. For almost a quarter century, the GSA Awards have recognized the achievements of top performing semiconductor companies in several categories ranging from outstanding leadership to financial accomplishments, as well as overall respect within the industry.

Individual Awards:

Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award
The GSA’s most prestigious award recognizes individuals, such as its namesake, Dr. Morris Chang, for their exceptional contributions to drive the development, innovation, growth and long-term opportunities for the semiconductor industry. This year’s recipient is Dr. Lisa Su, President and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Rising Women of Influence Award
This newly initiated award recognizes and profiles the next generation of women leaders in the semiconductor industry that are believed to be rising to top executive roles within their organizations. This year’s award was presented to Vanitha Kumar, Vice President of Software Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Company Awards:

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Companies
GSA members identified the winners in this category by casting ballots for the industry’s most respected companies, judged for their vision, technology and market leadership. Below are this year’s recipients:

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving Greater than $5 Billion in Annual Sales:

NVIDIA Corporation

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $1 Billion to $5 Billion in Annual Sales:

Marvell Semiconductor

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $500 Million to $1 Billion in Annual Sales:

Silicon Labs

Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $100 Million to $500 Million in Annual Sales:

Nordic Semiconductor

Most Respected Private Company:

SiFive Inc.

Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Companies
T

hese awards are derived from a broad evaluation of the financial health and performance of public fabless and IDM semiconductor companies. Below are this year’s recipients:

Best Financially Managed Company Achieving up to $1 Billion in Annual Sales:

Holtek Semiconductor Inc.

Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Achieving Greater than $1 Billion in Annual Sales:

Micron Technology, Inc.

Start-Up to Watch
GSA’s Private Awards Committee, comprised of successful executives, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, chose the winner by identifying a promising startup that has demonstrated the potential to positively change its market or the industry through innovation and market application. This year’s winner is Movandi.

As a global organization, the GSA recognizes outstanding companies headquartered in the Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia-Pacific regions having a global impact and demonstrating a strong vision, portfolio and market leadership. Two awards were presented in this category:

Outstanding Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Company

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company

Infineon Technologies AG

Analyst Favorite Semiconductor Company
Two analyst pick awards were presented based on technology and financial performance as well as future projections:

NVIDIA Corporation was chosen by Rajvindra Gill, Managing Director at Needham & Company, LLC

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was chosen by Mark Lipacis, Managing Director at Jefferies, LLC
This year’s ceremony was attended by close to 1500 global executives in the semiconductor and technology industries.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $41.8 billion for the month of October 2018, an increase of 12.7 percent from the October 2017 total of $37.1 billion and 1.0 percent more than last month’s total of $41.4 billion. Monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a newly released WSTS industry forecast was revised upward and now projects annual global market growth of 15.9 percent in 2018 and 2.6 percent in 2019.

“The global semiconductor industry posted solid year-to-year growth in October and is on pace for its highest-ever annual sales in 2018, but growth has moderated in recent months,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Although strong sales of DRAM products continue to boost overall market growth, sales in all other major product categories also increased year-to-year in October, and all major regional markets posted year-to-year gains. Double-digit annual growth is expected in 2018, with more modest growth projected for 2019.”

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in China (23.3 percent), the Americas (14.1 percent), Europe(7.0 percent), Japan (5.5 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (3.7 percent). Compared with last month, sales were up in the Americas (2.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (1.8 percent), Japan (0.4 percent), and Europe (0.2 percent), but down slightly in China (-0.4 percent).

Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Autumn 2018 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be $477.9 billion in 2018. This would mark the industry’s highest-ever annual sales, a 15.9 percent increase from the 2017 sales total of $412.2 billion. WSTS projects year-to-year increases across all regional markets for 2018: the Americas (19.6 percent), Asia Pacific (16.0 percent), Europe (13.2 percent), and Japan (9.6 percent). In 2019, growth in the semiconductor market is expected to moderate, with annual sales projected to increase by 2.6 percent. WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.

After hitting 7.3 percent growth in 2018, global demand for flat panel displays (FPDs) in terms of area is forecast to expand 6.4 percent to 228 million square meters in 2019. It is the first slowdown in year-on-year growth in four years, according to IHS Markit(Nasdaq: INFO).

Although the FPD demand will continue to grow, mainly driven by migration to larger displays for major applications, such as TVs, desktop monitors, mobile PCs and smartphones, the pace is expected to slow through 2021.

“The uncertainty from rising global trade tension may pose a threat to panel demand,” said Ricky Park, director at IHS Markit.  “Huge investment in panel factories in China is also expected to continue to cause oversupply next year.”

According to the world economy and global markets report by IHS Markit, world real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to grow 3.0 percent in 2019, following 3.2 percent in 2018 and 3.3 percent in 2017. The 2019 world real GDP growth was revised down from a 3.4 percent forecast in April 2018 as trade disputes between the United States and China worsened. This will partially contribute to slower growth in end-market demand and the lower demand for FPDs next year.

Oversupply is also expected to have an impact as China Star initiates mass production of FPDs from its 10.5thgeneration fabrication plant (fab) – the world’s second largest – in Shenzhen, China, in the first quarter of 2019. HKC will also contribute to an increase in the production capacity by mass producing panels at its new 8.6thgeneration fab in the second quarter 2019. As a result, the production capacity of thin-film transistor panels is expected to increase by 11 percent in 2019 compared to 2018, and the supply will surpass demand at a greater magnitude than 2018.

“As the market forecast for both demand and supply does not look favorable, panel suppliers and set makers are trying to develop more advanced products and technologies, such as 8K resolution for TVs, quantum-dot organic light-emitting diode (QD OLED) TVs and foldable displays for smartphones and tablet PCs, to bolster consumer demand,” Park said.

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today applauded the United States and China for agreeing to take first steps to reduce trade tensions. The U.S. plans to delay tariff increases on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, China has vowed to increase U.S. market access, and both parties are planning talks over the course of 90 days to address current frictions.

“Everyone, businesses and consumers alike, relies on devices powered by semiconductors,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Tariffs on products threaten jobs, stifle innovation, curb growth, and compromise U.S. competitiveness.”

With intellectual property critical to the semiconductor industry, SEMI strongly supports efforts to better protect valuable IP. SEMI believes, however, that U.S. tariff increases will ultimately do nothing to change China’s trade practices. SEMI has long supported efforts to reduce and end trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

“While this is a first step, it is encouraging to see presidents Trump and Xi committed to working together,” Manocha said. “We look forward to continued negotiations that produce an agreement that not only removes tariffs altogether, but also satisfactorily addresses bilateral economic concerns.”

The semiconductor industry relies heavily on international trade. Since the tariffs have been in force, companies have faced higher costs, greater uncertainty, and difficulty selling products abroad.

Since action against China was announced in March, SEMI has engaged heavily with the Trump administration, submitting written comments and offering testimony on the importance of the free trade to the industry as well as the damaging effects of tariffs on Chinese goods. SEMI estimates that tariffs would have cost semiconductor companies more than $700 million annually.

Last month, SEMI issued “10 Principles for the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain in Modern Trade Agreements,” calling for their adoption in existing and new trade deals, including frameworks for a U.S.-China agreement.

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that third quarter 2018 worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings dropped 5 percent from the previous quarter to US$15.8 billion but are 11 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago.

The data are gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 95 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:

 
3Q2018
2Q2018
3Q2017
3Q18/2Q18
(Qtr-over-Qtr)
3Q18/3Q17
(Year-over-Year)
China
3.98
3.79
1.93
5%
106%
Korea
3.45
4.86
4.99
-29%
-31%
Taiwan
2.90
2.19
2.37
33%
23%
Japan
2.41
2.28
1.73
6%
40%
North America
1.27
1.47
1.50
-14%
-15%
Rest of World
0.98
0.96
0.74
2%
32%
Europe
0.85
1.18
1.06
-29%
-20%
Total
15.84
16.74
14.33
-5%
11%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org) and SEAJ, December 2018

 

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market.

By David W. Price, Jay Rathert and Douglas G. Sutherland

Author’s Note:The Process Watch series explores key concepts about process control—defect inspection, metrology and data analytics—for the semiconductor industry. This article is the fourth in a series on process control strategies for automotive semiconductor devices.

The first three articles1-3 in this series discussed methods that automotive semiconductor manufacturers can use to better meet the challenging quality requirements of their customers. The first paper addressed the impact of automotive IC reliability failures and the idea that combating them requires a “Zero Defect” mentality. The second paper discussed continuous improvement programs and strategies that automotive fabs implement to reduce the process defects that can become chip reliability problems. The third paper focused on the additional process control sensitivity requirements needed to capture potential latent (reliability) defects. This installment discusses excursion monitoring strategies across the entire automotive fab process so that non-conforming material can be quickly found and partitioned.

Semiconductor fabs that make automotive ICs typically offer automotive service packages (ASPs). These ASPs provide differentiated process flows – with elements such as more process control and process monitoring, or guaranteed use of golden process tools. The goal of ASPs is to help ensure that the chips produced meet the stringent reliability requirements of the automotive industry.

But even with the use of an automotive service package, excursions are inevitable, as they are with any controlled process. Recognizing this, automotive semiconductor fabs pay special attention to creating a comprehensive control plan for their critical process layers as part of their Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA). The control plan details the process steps to be monitored and how they are monitored – specifying details such as the inspection sensitivity, sampling frequency and the exact process control systems to be used. A well-designed control plan will detect all excursions and keep “maverick” wafers from escaping the fab due to undersampling. Additionally, it will clearly indicate which wafers are affected by each excursion so that they can be quarantined and more fully dispositioned – thereby ensuring that non-conforming devices will not inadvertently ship.

To meet these objectives, the control plan of an automotive service package will invariably require much more extensive inspection and metrology coverage than the control plan for production of ICs for consumer products. An analysis of process control benchmarking data from fabs running both automotive and non-automotive products at the same design rule have shown that the fabs implement more defect inspection steps and more types of process control (inspection and metrology) for the automotive products. The data reveals that on average:

  • Automotive flows use approximately 1.5 to 2 times more defect inspection steps
  • Automotive flows employ more frequent sampling, both as a percentage of lots and number of wafers per lot
  • Automotive flows use additional sensitivity to capture the smaller defects that may affect reliability

The combined impact of these factors results in the typical automotive fab requiring 50% more process control capacity than their consumer product peers. A closer look reveals exactly how this capacity is deployed.

Figure 1 below shows an example of the number of lots between inspection points for both an automotive and a non-automotive process flow in the same fab. As a result of the increased number of inspection steps, if there is a defect excursion, it will be found much more quickly in the automotive flow. Finding the excursion sooner limits the lots at risk: a smaller and more clearly defined population of lots are exposed to the higher defect count, thereby helping serve the automotive traceability requirement. These excursion lots are then quarantined for high-sensitivity inspection of 100% of the wafers to disposition them for release, scrap, or when applicable, a downgrade to a non-automotive application.

Figure 1. Example demonstrating the lots at risk between inspection points for an automotive process flow (blue) and a non-automotive (baseline) process blow (pink). The automotive process flow has many more inspection points in the FEOL and therefore fewer lots at risk when a defect excursion does occur.

The additional inspection points in the automotive service package have the added benefit of simplifying the search for the root cause of the excursion by reducing the range of potential sources. Fewer potential sources helps speed effective 8D investigations4 to find and fix the problem. Counterintuitively, the increased number of inspection points also tends to reduce production cycle time due to reduced variability in the line.5

While increasing inspection capacity helps monitor and contain process excursions, there remains risk to automotive IC quality. Because each wafer may take a unique path through the multitude of processing chambers available in the fab, the sum of minor variations and marginalities across hundreds of process steps can create “maverick” wafers. These wafers can easily slip through a control plan that relies heavily on sub-sampling, allowing at-risk die into the supply chain. To address this issue, many automotive fabs are adding high-speed macro defect inspection tools to their fleet to scan more wafers per lot. This significantly improves the probability of catching maverick wafers and preventing them from entering the automotive supply chain.

Newer generation macro defect inspection tools6 can combine the sensitivity and defect capture of many older generation brightfield and darkfield wafer defect inspection tools into a single platform that can operate at nearly 150 wafers per hour, keeping cost of ownership low. In larger design rule 200mm fabs, the additional capacity often reveals multiple low-level excursions that had previously gone undetected, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The legacy sample plan of 5 wafers per lot (yellow circles) would have allowed the single maverick wafer excursion (red square) to go undetected. High capacity macro defect inspection tools can stop escapes by reducing undersampling and the associated risks.

In advanced, smaller design rule fabs, macro defect inspection tools lack the needed sensitivity to replace the traditional line monitoring and patterned wafer excursion monitoring roles occupied by broadband plasma and laser scanning wafer defect inspection tools. However, their high capacity has found an important role in augmenting the existing sample plan to find wafer-level signatures that indicate a maverick wafer.

A recent development in automotive control strategies is the use of defect inspection for die-level screening. One such technique, known as Inline Defect Part Average Testing (I-PAT™), uses outlier detection techniques to further enhance the fab’s ability to recognize die that may pass electrical test but become reliability failures later due to latent defects. This method will be discussed in detail in the next installment of this series.

About the authors:

Dr. David W. Price and Jay Rathert are Senior Directors at KLA-Tencor Corp. Dr. Douglas Sutherland is a Principal Scientist at KLA-Tencor Corp. Over the last 15 years, they have worked directly with over 50 semiconductor IC manufacturers to help them optimize their overall process control strategy for a variety of specific markets, including implementation of strategies for automotive reliability, legacy fab cost and risk optimization, and advanced design rule time-to-market. The Process Watch series of articles attempts to summarize some of the universal lessons they have observed through these engagements.

References:

  1. Price, Sutherland and Rathert, “Process Watch: The (Automotive) Problem With Semiconductors,” Solid State Technology, January 2018.
  2. Price, Sutherland and Rathert, “Process Watch: Baseline Yield Predicts Baseline Reliability,” Solid State Technology, March 2018.
  3. Price, Sutherland, Rathert, McCormack and Saville, “Process Watch: Automotive Defect Sensitivity Requirements,” Solid State Technology, August 2018.
  4. 8D investigations involve a systematic approach to solving problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_disciplines_problem_solving
  5. Sutherland and Price, “Process Watch: Process Control and Production Cycle Time,” Solid State Technology, June 2016.
  6. For example, see: https://www.kla-tencor.com/products/chip-manufacturing/defect-inspection-review.html#product-8-series

 

The excitement about microLEDs has grown exponentially since Apple acquired technology startup Luxvue in 2014. All major display makers have now invested in the technology and other semiconductor or hardware companies such as Intel, Facebook Oculus or Google have joined the pool. Amidst this flurry of news and activity, a new term emerged in early 2017: miniLED. But more than size, the technology and manufacturing infrastructure requirements and the applications clearly differentiate microLEDs and miniLEDs.

Under this dynamic ecosystem, the market research and strategy consulting company, Yole Développement (Yole), releases a dedicated technology & market analysis focused on miniLEDs for display applications. Entitled, MiniLED for Display Applications: LCD & Digital Signage, this report provides a detailed analysis of miniLED technologies in two major display applications: high performance LCDs and narrow pixel pitch LED direct view display digital signage. Yole’s analysts present a comprehensive understanding of miniLED display technologies and describe their competitive landscapes and supply chains.

MiniLED vs. MicroLED: are they the same technologies? Are the applications identical? Contrary to MicroLEDs, miniLEDs can easily be manufactured in existing fabs, even though they might require new equipment to enable cost-effective assembly. So who is doing what? What are the market drivers? Does a dedicated supply chain already exist? MiniLEDs advantages are two-fold in terms of applications: they bring new strength to LCD players in the battle against OLED, and they enable increased LED adoption for digital signage, announce Yole’s analysts. Discover today a snapshot of the miniLED industry, with insights into technology, current status and prospects, roadblocks and key players.

For smartphone applications, miniLEDs are facing a strong incumbent in OLEDs, as their cost to performance ratio has already gained the technology a strong position in high-end/flagship segments. OLED is expected to further increase its share and become dominant as the number of suppliers and global capacity increase dramatically over the next five years and cost continues to drop.

MiniLEDs, however, have a card to play in various small to mid-size high added-value display segments, where OLEDs have been less efficient at overcoming its weaknesses such as cost, lack of availability and longevity issues such as burn-in or image retention. For example in high-end monitors for gaming applications, miniLEDs could bring excellent contrast, high brightness and thin form factors at lower cost than OLEDs.

“The automotive segment is especially compelling, first because of its strong growth potential in terms of volume and revenue, and also because miniLEDs can deliver on every aspect auto-makers are aspiring to: very high contrast and brightness, lifetime, conformability to curved surfaces and ruggedness,” comments Eric Virey, PhD, Senior Market & Technology Analyst at Yole.

Regarding the last point on ruggedness, miniLED-based LCDs offer significant benefits over OLEDs since they only use proven technologies, LED backlights and liquid crystal cells, not much different from already established LCDs. Automakers therefore don’t have to make a leap of faith and hope the new technology will meet the demanding lifetime, environmental and operating temperature specifications they require.

On the TV side, miniLEDs could help LCDs bridge the gap and regain market share against OLEDs on the highly profitable high-end segments. “This opportunity is all the more enticing to panel and display makers that have not invested in OLED technologies and see the potential to extend the lifetime and profitability of their LCD fabs and technologies,” explains Zine Bouhamri, PhD, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole.

For direct view LED displays, miniLEDs used in conjunction with Chip On Board (COB) architecture could enable higher penetration of narrow pixel pitch LED displays in multiple applications, hence increasing the serviceable market. Die size will evolve continuously toward smaller dimensions, possibly down to 30-50µm in order to reduce cost. Adoption in cinema is still highly uncertain but even modest adoption rates would generate very significant upsides.

SEMI, the global industry association serving the global electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced the industry’s first worldwide fab data for power and compound semiconductors. The new report, Power and Compound Fab Outlook, provides comprehensive front-end semiconductor fab information and a forecast to 2022 for global manufacturing capabilities of power and compound semiconductors.

Power devices are rising in importance as energy-efficiency standards tighten to meet growing demand for power-thrifty high-end consumer electronics, wireless communications, electric vehicles, green energy, data centers, and both industrial and consumer IoT (Internet of Things) applications. Semiconductor fabs around the globe have responded with improvements to power usage in every aspect of electronics including power harvesting, delivery, transformation, storage, and consumption. Cost structure and performance are critical in power electronics, dictating the pace of market growth and technology adoption.

With compound materials driving significant gains in the energy efficiency of power devices, the Power and Compound Fab Outlook highlights particular compound materials that have been adopted in semiconductor fabs. The report is an essential business tool for anyone interested in related tool and material markets as well as power and compound materials capacity in fabs by region and wafer sizes.

Figure 1

By Jay Chittooran

Meeting Attended by More than 100 Tech Company Representatives

Over the past decade, China has become a central market for the semiconductor industry. China is now home to more than 30 percent of semiconductor end users worldwide. All semiconductor companies, regardless of size, operate in China. The rise of China’s semiconductor market has been enabled by global commerce and a vast network of supply chains that span the globe.

With China now a prominent player in the industry, it has become critically important for semiconductor companies to effectively engage with China. In order to help our member companies better understand the challenges and opportunities and navigate what can be a complex landscape, SEMI hosts annual trade compliance conferences in China for trade professionals. This year, SEMI, with CompTIA and U.S. Information Technology Office (USITO), hosted two global trade seminars in China, one in Shanghai on October 30th and the other in Beijing on November 1st.

Over 120 representatives from more than two dozen technology companies attended the 2018 trade compliance seminars. Over the course of the two sessions, speakers from government, business, and law firms highlighted the most pressing trade issues in China. Speakers included thought leaders, trade practitioners and senior Chinese government officials.

Sessions included a deep dive on China’s draft customs reform law, a panel discussion on U.S. export controls, and a briefing on how best to engage with China Customs and how China’s products are classified. Another well-received session focused on the status of China’s export control law, which has been in the drafting process for years.

However, the overarching question for many attendees was U.S.-China economic relations, which are undergoing a sea change, with the U.S. having imposed or threatened tariffs on all imports from China – totaling more than $500 billion in goods – over the past six months. As a speaker noted during a session on the U.S.-China tensions and the surrounding broader geopolitical impacts, the environment is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. In fact, on the morning of the first session, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit was added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s entity list, which effectively restricts exports to the company.

As a result of the trade actions, ranging from tariffs to enhanced export controls, U.S. semiconductor companies are beginning to increase prices, reduce research and development (R&D) budgets, restructure supply chains and take other mitigation actions that will ultimately slow innovation. Certain export controls and other regulations that prohibit U.S.-companies from conducting business with targeted companies will put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.

In fact and as we speak, some companies with China-based operations have cancelled orders from U.S. companies and shifted to suppliers that are not subject to U.S. actions to reduce the associated risks of supply interruption and cost increases. Ultimately, U.S. trade policy could backfire, threatening jobs, curbing growth, cutting U.S. R&D investments and compromising the competitiveness of U.S. firms.

SEMI will begin planning next year’s Global Trade Seminar in the coming months. If you would like to be involved in the planning, or would simply like more information about the seminar, please contact Jay Chittooran, Public Policy Manager at SEMI, at [email protected].

During the state visit of Emmanuel Macron President of the French Republic, the Belgian research center imec and the French research institute CEA-Leti, two research and innovation hubs in nanotechnologies for industry, announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that lays the foundation of a strategic partnership in the domains of Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing, two key strategic value chains for European industry, to strengthen European strategic and economic sovereignty. The joint efforts of imec and CEA-LETI underline Europe’s ambition to take a leading role in the development of these technologies. The research centers’ increased collaboration will focus on developing, testing and experimenting neuromorphic and quantum computing – and should result in the delivery of a digital hardware computing toolbox that can be used by European industry partners to innovate in a wide variety of application domains – from personalized healthcare and smart mobility to the new manufacturing industry and smart energy sectors.

shown seated from left to right: Emmanuel Sabonnadière, CEO of CEA-Leti and Ludo Deferm, EVP, corporate affairs, Imec

Edge Artificial Intelligence (eAI) commonly refers to computer systems that display intelligent behavior locally on the hardware devices (e.g chips). They analyze their environment and take the required actions to achieve specific goals. Edge AI is poised to become a key driver of economic development. And, even more importantly perhaps, it holds the promise of solving many societal challenges – from treating diseases that cannot yet be cured today, to minimizing the environmental impact of farming.

Decentralization from the cloud to the edge is a key challenge of AI technologies applied to large heterogeneous systems. This requires innovation in the components industry with powerful, energy-guzzling processors.

“The ability to develop technologies such as AI and quantum computing – and put them into industrial use across a wide spectrum of applications – is one of Europe’s major challenges. Both quantum and neuromorphic computing (to enable artificial intelligence) are very promising areas of innovation, as they hold a huge industrialization potential. A stronger collaboration in these domains between imec and CEA-Leti, two of Europe’s leading research centers, will undoubtedly help to speed up the technologies’ development time: it will provide us with the critical mass that is required to create more – and faster – impact, and will result in plenty of new business opportunities for our European industry partners,” says Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec.

“Two European microelectronics pioneers today are joining forces to raise the game in both high-performance computing and trusted AI at the edge, and ultimately to fuel European industry success through innovations in aeronautics, defence, automobiles, Industry 4.0 and health care,” said Emmanuel Sabonnadière, Leti CEO. “This collaboration with imec following earlier innovation-collaboration agreements with the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the largest organization for applied research, will focus all three institutes to the task of keeping Europe at the forefront of new digital hardware for AI, HPC and Cyber-security applications.”

Imec and CEA-Leti are inviting partners from industry as well as academia to join them and benefit from access to the research centers’ state-of-the-art technology with proven reproducibility – enabling a much higher degree of device complexity, reproducibility and material perfection while sharing the costs of precompetitive research.