Date: 27/05/2011

imec and Qualcomm extend 3D IC research

imec has announced their continued research arrangement with Qualcomm Incorporated on 3D technology which broadens the collaboration with Qualcomm participating in imec's INSITE program focusing on designing with advanced technologies. Qualcomm is part of the imec industrial affiliation program (IIAP) on 3D integration from 2008. Qualcomm has gained early insight on the system design impact of 3D and advanced process technologies including device structures, interconnects and lithography for the sub-20nm node.

"We are excited to have Qualcomm continue to broaden its relationship with Imec after 3 years of successful collaboration," said Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of Imec. "With INSITE we connect the technology research and design research communities and are expanding our ecosystem to include fabless and fab-lite companies. This offering helps companies anticipate new technologies so that they may design more advanced systems and applications and bring them to the market faster."

"With consumers migrating from PC platforms to mobile devices and the market for smart phones growing rapidly, the demand for increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities continues to expand," said Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president and group president of Qualcomm. "Through our collaboration with Imec, Qualcomm expects to gain insights into the benefits of 3D integration with advanced CMOS technology nodes that will help us provide increasing levels of integration on future mobile chipsets."