13th ASCENT Newsletter – April 2019
ASCENT … the future!
Thank you to all our 400+ members of the ASCENT network for your support and engagement over the last 4 years. We have seen really exciting results and outputs based on your participation in ASCENT. Our success stories prove that through collaboration and access we can achieve excellent scientific results.
As this phase of the programme comes to a close we are waiting on the outcome of our bid for a follow-up proposal called ‘ASCENT+’. This new and expanded programme will have a wider consortium and even more advanced offers so that our research community can continue to tackle the future challenges of developing and integrating more complex nanoelectronics devices. Through ASCENT+ we hope to provide access to leading institutes across Europe in three key Technology Platforms: Nanoelectronics for Quantum Technologies, Disruptive Devices (including More Moore and Beyond CMOS) and Advanced Integration. If successful, we will be able to provide free-of-charge access to infrastructure and expertise in processing, modelling/data sets, metrology/characterisation and devices/test structures.
In the meantime we will keep in touch with you through the ASCENT network and if you need access to any of our facilities we will be happy to help you find the best access mechanism to support your work.
ASCENT worldwide membership
Launch: New White Paper
We are now releasing the second white paper from one of our ASCENT Joint Research Activities entitled “Failure mechanisms and device forensic techniques in existing and emerging CMOS devices”.
White Paper Table of Contents
Get your copy!
If you would like to have a copy emailed to you directly please email Paul: paul.roseingrave @ tyndall.ie
Note: The first White Paper entitled “An Exploration of Contamination Types and Contamination Control Techniques Currently used in the Fabrication of Nanoelectronics” is still available, just email for your copy.
ASCENT Visitor Experience at imec
Christoforos Theodorou, from IMEP-LAHC (Grenoble, France) visited our imec labs in March. This collaboration arose from one of the very first collaboration of imec and IMEP-LAHC in ASCENT, with Professor Gerard Ghibaudo.
Firstly, access to the data collected on the automatic testers was granted. The low frequency noise behaviour for the 14nm bulk finFET technology devices provided by imec was characterised by measuring various figures of merit on the imec test setup for a week. This work, which started with a hands-on session the first day, will now continue at the user’s facility, using the silicon provided by imec. For this purpose, 3 wafers will be exchanged, and a series of analytical low frequency noise and random telegraph noise measurements will be performed.
The results of this work supported by ASCENT will allow to benchmark the test setups providing a set of guidelines for noise measurements, as well as to develop accurate finFET compact noise models suitable for circuit simulations.
Christoforos Theodorou at imec
ASCENT Visitor Experience at CEA-Leti
ASCENT offered CEA-Leti the opportunity to develop collaborations with universities in many fields: from physical & chemical characterization to electrical characterization and to modelling of devices, in the development of advanced innovative structures and their characterization in the context of common project (optical, …). Some of these collaborations helped us create links with researchers which should continue well beyond the ASCENT project. Some were directly pushed by students working for PhDs and we hope to continue some scientific collaboration with them in their future lab and research field.
Many demands concerned furnishing devices for further electrical characterization and modelling: the offer was restricted on transistors for ASCENT but taking into account the demand CEA-Leti plans to extend its offer to other devices, such as memories for example, in the expected following ASCENT+ project. Similarly in response to the strong demand for physical and chemical characterization we have planned to extend the offer in the follow-on ASCENT+ project. We also received many requests for CEA-Leti models which we have also included in the new offer and we hope to develop many new collaborations around modelling.
Within ASCENT CEA-Leti also received students for a specific 3-day training program including various Lab visits and also technical tutorials in key domains of characterization, reliability, failure analysis. This was greatly appreciated by students and we plan to develop and improve this offer.
Simone Iadanza during his visit to CEA-Leti
Previous Issues:
Jan 2019 / Oct 2018 / Jul 2018 / Apr 2018 / Jan 2018 / Oct 2017 / Jul 2017 / Apr 2017 / Jan 2017 / Sep 2016 / Jun 2016 / Feb 2016
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654384.