SIA funding............
and . . . its CYMI against DARPA's XRL program............
techweb.cmp.com
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted at 11 a.m. EST/8 a.m. PST, 12/5/97
SIA launches $60 million program
for IC technology R&D in Focus Centers
By Jack Robertson
WASHINGTON--A long-delayed $60 million-per-year U.S.
government-industry research initiative to aid the development of
next-generation electronics technology is being launched this week by the
Semiconductor Industry Association.
Last year, the SIA pledged to provide half of the funding needed to establish
Focus Centers at university campuses. Recently, the U.S. Department of
Defense and the semiconductor equipment industry each pledged to fund
25% of the project cost.
The first two Focus Centers will work on chip design and interconnect
technology. The sites have not yet been determined. Paolo Gargini, Intel
Corp.'s director of technology strategy, said the Focus Centers will help the
electronics industry meet the goals set down in the SIA's most recent
National Technology Roadmap, which calls for 0.05-micron feature sizes in
DRAMs and 0.035-micron gate lengths in microprocessors by 2012 (see
summary of the new roadmap from Dec. 1 news).
The joint government-industry initiative hopes in the near future to launch
Focus Centers that will work on lithography, metrology, and materials.
Focus Centers were first proposed by a government-industry task force, the
National Semiconductor Technology Council, as a way of stimulating
university research and involvement and bolstering industry resources.
Once again, the chip industry is tapping federal funds, albeit a modest
amount initially. With some fanfare, chip industry consortium Sematech,
based in Austin, Tex., three years ago weaned itself of a $100
million-per-year federal contribution. It is now solely supported by member
companies.
Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency continues to
contribute $40 million to $60 million annually to develop advanced
lithography. Most of this money is being spent on X-ray lithography that has
not been endorsed by chip manufacturers.
The chip industry already contributes approximately $30 million annually for
university research through the Semiconductor Research Corp. That money
is spread across a broad spectrum of projects.
The Focus Centers are aimed at concentrating efforts on technologies that
are considered essential to leading-edge devices. |
