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IMEC and Praesagus
Sign Technology Partnership Agreement;

Partnership Will Focus on New Approach to Modeling Interconnect
Manufacturing Variation

 
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2004--IMEC, Europe's largest independent nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research center, and Praesagus Inc., a privately held company that provides solutions to model interconnect manufacturing variation, today announced a technology development agreement to extend Praesagus' physics-based modeling approach for pattern-based interconnect manufacturing variation.

The partnership will build on Praesagus' physics-based interconnect thickness variation modeling technology and expand the scope to include copper/low-k and three-dimensional modeling. The partnership will leverage IMEC's copper damascene, ultra low-k dielectric and 65nm expertise and experience.

Developing next-generation processes for electro-chemical deposition (ECD) and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) will require a much more detailed understanding of the causes of interconnect variation and solutions to mitigate those causes.
"IMEC has initiated this program with Praesagus to help our core technology partners address a serious concern as they move to the next process node," said Karen Maex, Ph.D., IMEC Fellow in the Silicon Process Technology Division.

"The current design for manufacturing (DFM) communication paradigm of CMP design rules and worst-case thickness tech files is running out of steam and the recently proposed alternative of density-based models does not provide enough accuracy," said Hugo De Man, IMEC Senior Research Fellow. "In our System-Level Integration Program, IMEC is researching the impact of process variability in deep submicron technologies on circuit and system level. Variability in interconnect RC delays is a main concern as we are scaling down technology beyond the 90nm node. Praesagus' expertise in physics-based modeling of interconnect technology offers a promising alternative to accurately predict the interconnect performance, serving as a critical input to system designers."

"IMEC has been a pioneer in addressing leading edge issues in semiconductor manufacturing by partnering with industry leaders," said Taber Smith, Praesagus president. "We are pleased to collaborate with Europe's leading applied research organization and leverage both their processing expertise and also their design expertise."

The term of the agreement is two years. IMEC Industrial Affiliation Partners will have early access to the technology and Praesagus expects to incorporate the results into their commercial product.

About Praesagus (http://www.praesagus.com)

Founded in 2000, Praesagus Inc. is a privately held company that provides a new paradigm to solve the growing gap between design and manufacturing for 90nm and below designs. Praesagus provides a copper interconnect modeling solution that can accurately predict the impact that ECD & CMP processes have on interconnect copper thickness variation and through RC extraction the corresponding parasitic variation anywhere on a chip. The prediction can be used for process optimization, pattern dependency minimization and accurate design verification. The Praesagus solution turns the uncertainty of process variation into predictable impacts that can be incorporated into the design and manufacturing process.

About IMEC (http://www.imec.be)

IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. Its research focuses on the next generations of chips and systems, and on the enabling technologies for ambient intelligence. IMEC's research bridges the gap between fundamental research at universities and technology development in industry. Its unique balance of processing and system know-how, intellectual property portfolio, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a strong network of companies, universities and research institutes worldwide, positions IMEC as a key partner with which to develop and improve technologies for future systems.

IMEC is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and has representatives in the U.S., China and Japan. Its staff of more than 1,300 people includes over 380 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2003, its revenues were EUR 145 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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