Company News Saxony’s cool silicon
FUTURE state-of-the-art technologies for the design and production of energy efficient and yet particularly high- performing analogue-digital circuits are developed by the Saxon Leading-Edge Cluster “Cool Silicon”. Among other things they will contribute to decreasing the power consumption of ICs. The research project “Design and
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Technology Platform for the Design of Highly Efficient Integrated High- Frequency Circuits in 28 nm CMOS (Cool-RF-28)” is a cooperation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, the Intel Mobile Communications GmbH, the TU Dresden chair for Circuit Design And Network Theory (LSN), and the chair for Highly-Parallel VLSI-Systems and Neuromorphic Circuits, headed by Dr.- Ing. habil. René Schüffny. The project is coordinated by Dr. Carta, LSN. The research project aims at enabling the design and production of circuits combining analogue and digital components in 28 nanometre CMOS technology. Suchlike circuits are currently produced with structures of 90 and 65 nanometres. Foregoing the 45 nanometre step, the Dresden-based team wants to drive the miniaturization forward significantly. “Compared to the current state-of- the-art the 28 nanometre CMOS technology opens the doors for a
significantly lower energy consumption as well as considerably higher working frequencies”, Professor Dr. Frank Ellinger, the coordinator of the research project, explains. Yet it usually is other types of circuits that set the pace for technological development. The miniaturization of the structures, the so- called scaling, starts with the memory chips and the processors. Along with new technologies those complex digital structures are produced the quickest and therefore design kits for them are available very early.
“Components for high-performance analog functions are usually not available at the time of the implementation of new CMOS technologies”, Ellinger elaborates. “Hence, there are no optimized passive components or high-frequency bipolar transistor models providing the accuracy necessary for narrow band high-frequency circuits.”
Techcet Forecasts $1.6B for 2013
THE 2010 market for crucibles and fabricated quartz OEM parts for semiconductor applications totalled $1.2B, up 89% over the 2009 low, according to a new report from Techcet Group, “Quartz for Semiconductor Applications 2011.” The outlook is for continuing recovery with an additional 15% growth in 2011 and 1.5% in 2012, with growth resuming at 10% in 2013. Hot and cold fabricated parts total 60% of the market, with 20% for crucibles and base materials (ingots, boules, rods, tubes). Fabricated quartz revenues doubled in 2010, despite some interruption at SEH from the March, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Parts for 300mm are boosting revenues, even though this segment faces increasing competition from silicon carbide, silicon and ceramic fabricated parts. Sales for solar PV crucibles (not included in these numbers) outpaced semiconductor crucible revenues in 2010 in what is expected to be a short term bubble, as excess PV capacity moves into production. Inventory re-stocking has been driving the buying frenzy in quartz ingots, rods and tubes, pushing lead times out to six months or longer. The report provides an overview of the quartz crucible and OEM parts market that supports semiconductor device manufacturing.
Japanese researchers in synaptic discovery
RESEARCHERS working at the International Centre for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) have demonstrated for the first time the key features in the neuroscience and
psychology of memory by a AgS2 synapse.
Artificial neural networks have attracted attention as a means to a better understanding of biological neural networks, as well as aiding developments in artificial intelligence. The complex and interconnected nature of thought processes make neural behaviour difficult to reproduce in artificial structures without software programming. Now Takeo Ohno and researchers at MANA, Tsukuba, Japan, and the University of California have mimicked synaptic activity with the electroionic behavior of a nanoscale AgS2 electrode. The researchers observed a temporary higher-conductance state in the AgS2 system following an incident electric pulse. Repetition of the input pulse over 2 s intervals led to permanently higher conductance. These two responses mimic the short-term plasticity and long-term potentiality in biological synapses. In the most widely accepted ‘multistore’ model of memory in human psychology, new information is stored briefly as a sensory memory. Rehearsal converts short- term memory to long-term. When demonstrating memorization of the numerals ‘1’ and ‘2’ in a 7 x 7 inorganic synapse array, the behaviour of the artificial synapse indicated ‘multistore’ memory rather than a conventional switch. The researchers add, “The data indicate that we may apply a psychological memory model simultaneously with the emulation of biological synaptic-like behaviour.”
www.euroasiasemiconductor.com Issue IV 2011
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