Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: "imec Technology Forum Press Gathering 2010"

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Abstract:
Shaping the future through nanoelectronics

imec Technology Forum Press Gathering 2010

Leuven, Belgium | Posted on March 11th, 2010

Imec invites you to be its guest at the IMEC Technology Forum (ITF) Press Gathering in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and Leuven (Belgium) on June 7-8, 2010

With its world-leading research in nanoelectronics, imec tackles the grand challenges of today's society. Together with its global partners, imec develops solutions for climate change and the depletion of the earth's resources (renewable energy), the aging population and the rising cost of healthcare (biomedical electronics), sustainable mobility, efficient communication etc.

On the occasion of the ITF Press Gathering, the imec, TNO and Holst Centre management wants to celebrate with you the 5th anniversary of Holst Centre. End 2005, located in a small office at High Tech Campus in Eindhoven (the Netherlands), a handful of people took off for an amazing journey: the realization of a globally recognized open-innovation center for wireless sensor technologies and flexible electronics. During the ITF Press Gathering, you will get insight in the progress that has been made during its 5 years of existence and the plans for the years to come. Of course not without an informal (pre-)celebration of the anniversary itself.

Agenda
Monday June 7, 2010 (Location: Holst Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands)

Morning session - Holst Centre insight
Based upon detailed topics, news items and demonstrators you will get an overview of the research scope of Holst Centre, the status after 5 years of existence and the strategic plans for the coming period.

Afternoon session - Shaping a sustainable healthcare with nano
Imec will present its vision, research strategy and recent achievements on:

* body area networks, a collaboration between imec teams in Leuven and at Holst Centre
* new diagnostics and therapy systems based on nanoelectronics, and synthesis and biofunctionalization of nanoparticles. These include for example lab-on-chip technologies and targeted therapy concepts based on nanoparticles.
* in vitro and in vivo cell-IC interfaces for the development of novel medical therapies and pharmaceutical treatments in areas such as neurology, cardiology or oncology.
* Neuroelectronics research Flanders (NERF)

Evening session - 5 years Holst Centre celebration and diner
Holst Centre, Imec and TNO management will join you for a celebration and diner in an informal setting.

Tuesday June 8, 2010
(Location: imec, Leuven, Belgium)

Part 1: Nanoelectronics for a better life in a sustainable society
Imec will present its vision, research strategy and recent achievements on:

IC processing technology
Smart systems which interact with people and the environment, efficient healthcare, virtual communities experienced as real life, all these fantastic applications need chips with teraflop and terabit compute and storage capabilities. Further scaling is indispensible to realize this. However, today, as we are reaching atomic granularity, physical limitations disturb the expected transistor behavior. Further scaling is only possible by innovative use of new materials, transistor architectures and lithographic techniques.

Imec's research is built around the world's most advanced lithography tools and focuses on process technologies to enable scaling CMOS technology into 22 nanometer node and beyond focusing both on logic and memory, interconnect challenges with focus on using the 3rd dimension.

Packaged microsystems
Smart devices which will play a crucial role to make a sustainable society will need MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and NEMS (nano-electromechanical systems) such as smart sensors, actuators, or power scavengers, but also biochips, micro-implantable appliances, or solar cells.
Imec studies how CMOS processes can be tuned and extended with new processing steps to make novel CMOS micro- and nanodevices, adding functions other than logic and memory to the chips. Imec's CMORE initiative is a platform that allows companies to turn their innovative concepts into packaged microsystems products, based on imec's expertise in the field.

Sustainable energy solutions
Renewable energy, including solar, will be needed to counter the steady warming of the earthˇs surface. Imec's solar cell research belongs to the top in world. It deals with the main challenge to make solar cells cheaper with a factor 3 to 4, and improve conversion efficiency. This is needed to reach grid parity, the point at which buying solar power is no more expensive (or even cheaper) than buying power from, say, an electricity plant running on coal. Imec also studies organic (polymer) solar cells which are less efficient than inorganic solar cells, but outperform them when it comes to flexibility, lightness, and cost. High-efficiency III-V-based solar cells complete imec's solar cell portfolio.

Imec studies power electronics and solid-state lighting based on III-Nitride materials, of which GaN (gallium-nitride) is best known. These technologies are of key importance for a more sustainable use of energy. Power electronics convert electric power through solid-state components. The market for such components is destined to grow considerably, because of the drive to use more hybrid electrical vehicles in transport, or more solar installations, wind farms, and smart grids to connect it all. The next generation of lighting, still more efficient, will be LED lighting. But today, LED technology is still at least a factor 10 too expensive. So, cheaper, large area processing and improved light efficiency are the main drivers in research on LED technology.

Smart systems
Chips make today's electronic devices smarter and smarter enabling them to communicate with and adapt to the environment and the user requirements. Imec develops smart radio systems for next-generation wireless communications. Radios will not only adapt to the communication standard, but also to the available communication frequencies and to the environment (indoor, speed, volume).
With the evolution towards ambient high-resolution multimedia, radio ICs for the wireless communication of massive data streams, for example for high-definition television, also becomes indispensable. Such data streams require a massive throughput, in the order of GBits per second.

Imec focuses on cost-effective, low-power 60GHz radio ICs in standard CMOS, which show a lot of potential for the consumer market of for example wireless television screens. Next to this, enhanced vision systems which make real-life experience possible are studied.

Organic semiconductors are flexible, lightweight, and cheap and thus are an important technology to create the next generation smart systems. They are especially suited for such applications as intelligent clothing, RFID labels, rollable displays, organic memory, or plastic signaling and lighting.

Part 2: Official opening of extension of imec's state-of-the art cleanroom ready for 450mm in presence of Flemish Ministers and executives from the worldwide semiconductor industry.

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About imec
Imec performs world-leading research in nano-electronics. Imec leverages its scientific knowledge with the innovative power of its global partnerships in ICT, healthcare and energy. Imec delivers industry-relevant technology solutions. In a unique high-tech environment, its international top talent is committed to providing the building blocks for a better life in a sustainable society.

Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Taiwan, US, China and Japan. Its staff of more than 1,750 people includes over 650 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2008, imec's revenue (P&L) was 270 million euro.

Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be.

Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International (a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a "stichting van openbaar nut�), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government), imec the Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is supported by the Dutch Government) and imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.).

About Holst Centre
Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Transducer Solutions and for Systems-in-Foil. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model with industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this kind of cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its scientific strategy to industrial needs.

Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer in Research and Development and first director of Philips Research.

Located on High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Holst Centre benefits from the state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 150 employees from around 25 nationalities and a commitment from over 20 industrial partners.

About TNO
TNO is a prominent, independent knowledge company whose expertise and research contributes significantly to the competitiveness of businesses and organizations, to the economy and to the quality of life as a whole.

Versatility and capacity to integrate this knowledge makes TNO unique. TNO employs some 4300 professionals in five core areas:

* TNO Quality of Life
* TNO Defence, Security and Safety
* TNO Science and Industry
* TNO Built Environment and Geosciences
* TNO Information and Communication Technology

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