IMEC will provide the technology to manufacture chips of sizes 28 nanometres and above
Recently, the Belgium-based semiconductor research organisation Interuniversity MicroElectronics Centre (IMEC) signed an agreement with India to aid in the creation of a semiconductor ecosystem in the country. As per the deal, IMEC will provide the technical support, specifically, the technology to manufacture chips of sizes 28 nanometres and above. The user, in return, will pay a royalty for this technology. It must be noted that the cutting-edge tech from IMEC will be transferred to the company that sets up a semiconductor plant in India.
Saying that IMEC will give technical aid to companies setting up semiconductor units in India, one Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) official aware of the development added, “The firm is also willing to support the development of talent and research abilities in the country.”
Globally, semiconductor manufacturers are working on the technology to miniaturize, i.e., reduce the size of transistors. On similar lines, IMEC also aims to reduce the transistor size to less than 1nm. But there will be a huge market for bigger process nodes and a significant market for mid-sized nodes, commented the MeitY official.
The official pointed out that over two-thirds of semiconductors are used in electric vehicles, power, and telecom equipment. These industries demand big and mid-sized nodes which are part of chips. Thus, the market is going to focus more on chips with nodes larger than 20-25 nanometres.
Belgium-based research and innovation hub, IMEC was founded in 1984. It is active in the fields of nanoelectronics and digital technologies.