MIEL2014 Abstracts Deadline Extension

IEEE 29th International Conference on Microelectronics (MIEL 2014) is to be held on 11-14 May 2014 at the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. The extended submission deadline for 2-page extended abstracts of regular contributions had been set to 26th, but, due to many requests by authors, we will continue receiving the submissions by October 31st 2013.

More detailed information on MIEL 2014 can be found in the attached Call for Papers, as well as on the conference web site http://miel.elfak.ni.ac.rs/. We will be looking forward to receiving your submission and seeing you at our conference next year in May.

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EU Goal: Reach 20% World-Share in Chip Manufacturing by 2020

EU to spend € 10 billion to trigger € 100 billion investments — SEMI provides the platforms for our members to share critical implementation issues and actions to support the goals set by the EU [H. Kundert, president, SEMI Europe] 

The new European industrial strategy for micro- and nano-electronics, published on 23 May 2013, sets the framework for targeted investment across the electronics value and innovation chain. An Industrial Strategy Roadmap for Investment, to be developed by end 2013, will cover three complementary lines:

• Transition to 450mm, expected to primarily benefit equipment and material manufacturers in Europe
• “More than Moore” on 200mm and 300 mm
• “More Moore” for ultimate miniaturization on 300mm wafers

Investment will be concentrated, focusing on Europe’s clusters of excellence in manufacturing and design (Grenoble, Dresden and Eindhoven-Leuven), but will also support partnerships and alliances across the value chain in Europe.

[read more...] also don't miss the SEMICON Europa 2013 Call for Papers (open until June 27). The conferences are a great opportunity to present your technology and latest achievements to a large audience of industry professionals. For more information about SEMICON Europe programs, the Call for Papers and opportunities to exhibit and present your products please go online and visit semiconeuropa.org.

TED Call for Papers on Compact Modeling of Emerging Devices

Compact Models (CMs) for circuit simulation have been at the heart of CAD tools for circuit design for almost five decades. As the mainstream CMOS technology is scaled into the nanometer regime, development of a truly physical and predictive CM for circuit simulation that covers geometry, bias, temperature, DC, AC, RF, and noise characteristics becomes a major challenge. The last call for a special issue on “advanced compact models and 45-nm modeling challenges” was in 2005. Seven years have passed, new technology nodes have been implemented, compact models have evolved and new compact models as well as compact models for new devices are being developed. Therefore, there is a need for another special issue dedicated to the advancement and challenges in core field-effect transistor (FET) models for 32-nm technologies and beyond as well as emerging technologies. For the core FET models, the associated noise/mismatch and reliability/variability models as well as proximity effects have become an essential part of the modeling effort. High-frequency, high-voltage, high-power, high-temperature devices have been extensively investigated, and their CMs are being reported in the literature. Device/circuit interaction and layout-dependent proximity effects are also hot topics today that are essential in nanometer chip designs. It is timely to report advances in these CMs in the 32-nm/22-nm technology era.

Concurrently, nonclassical MOSFETs as well as their CMs, such as multigate FinFETs and nanowire FETs, partially/fully-depleted ultrathin body (UTB) SOT, and thin-film transistors (TFTs), have emerged over the past decades. With the announcement of FinFETs being used in 22-nm and sub-22nm technology nodes, the need for such core models for fabless designers becomes an urgent reality. In these nonclassical devices, transistors are essentially short-channel, narrow-width, and thin-body. Tt is also an interesting topic to discuss and debate on the two different formalisms “top-down” drift-diffusion formulation adding ballistic effects versus “bottom-up” quasi-ballistic formulation adding scattering effects for modeling the real devices that are somewhere in between. Heterogeneous integration of various devices into the CMOS platform also becomes an important trend.

In addition, it is also timely to report advances in CMs of emerging devices beyond traditional silicon CMOS, such as different materials (III-V/Ge channel, organic) and different source/drain injection mechanisms (Schottky-barrier, tunneling, and junctionless FETs). These emerging device options for future VLSI building blocks have been studied extensively, while good physical CMs are still lacking. The special issue in these topics will stimulate research and development to promote modeling efforts such that theory would lead and guide technology realization and selection for future generations.

The special issue for the TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES on compact modeling of emerging devices is devoted to the review and report of advancements in CMs for 32-nm technologies and beyond, including bulk and nonclassical CMOS and their associated noise/mismatch and reliability/variability models, as well as various emerging devices as future generation device options. It is timely as the industry is in the transition from traditional planar bulk-CMOS towards vertical FinFET technologies, and exploration of heterogeneous integration with various materials and structural choices.

Please submit manuscripts by using the following URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ted

MAKE SURE TO MENTION THE SPECIAL ISSUE IN THE COVER LETTER

Paper submission Deadline: June 30, 2013

Scheduled Publication Date: February 2014

Guest Editors:

Xing Zhou, Nanyang Technological University, 

Jamal Deen, McMaster University, 

Benjamin Iniguez, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 

Christian Enz, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 

Rafael Rios, Intel Corp.

If you have any questions about submitting a manuscript, please contact:

Jo Ann Marsh 

IEEE EDS Publications Office

445 Hoes Lane Piscataway JN 08854

Phone: +1 732 562 6855

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Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TED.2013.2253418

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Call for IJNM Papers: Modeling of high-frequency silicon transistors

Silicon transistors (STs) have been the workhorse of the electronics industry ever since its inception. Although STs historically have been used primarily in digital and low-frequency analog applications, they increasingly are being adopted for high-frequency analog purposes as well. This trend is fueled by the introduction of new fabrication methods, novel materials, and transistor architectures that permit aggressive downscaling into the nanometer regime. Along these lines, considerable attention currently is being devoted to the FinFET, which is an innovative multiple-gate field effect transistor offering the important advantage of being compatible with conventional planar CMOS technology.

Modeling and simulation are indispensable in the development of high-frequency STs. Indeed, ST models and simulations provide indispensable feedback for improving device fabrication processes and serve as a valuable tool for optimizing circuit designs. Unfortunately, the predictive power of modeling and simulation techniques for STs for digital and low-frequency applications oftentimes diminishes when applied to high-frequency analog STs. For modeling and simulation methods to drive the development of high-frequency ST technology, they must adapt as well. 

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish high-quality contributions addressing the modeling and simulation of high-frequency STs. A wide range of topics will be covered, ranging from bipolar to ?eld effect transistors and from linear to noise and non-linear models. Although the main focus of the Special Issue will be the extraction of high-frequency models, papers addressing other aspects of ST modeling will be considered as well. This issue will contain both invited and contributed papers. Manuscripts for this Special Issue should adhere to the requirements for regular papers of the IJNM as specified in the Author Guidelines at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/ (ISSN)1099-1204/homepage/ForAuthors.html.

Potential contributors may contact the Guest Editors to determine the suitability of their contribution to the Special Issue. All manuscripts should be submitted via the IJNM’s manuscript website http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijnm, with a statement that they are intended for this Special Issue.

Guest Editors:

• Dr. Giovanni Crupi
  University of Messina, Italy
  E-mail: crupig@unime.it
• Prof. Dominique Schreurs
  University of Leuven, Belgium
  E-mail: dominique.schreurs@esat.kuleuven.be
• Prof. Alina Caddemi
  University of Messina, Italy
  E-mail: acaddemi@unime.it

Manuscript submission deadline: April 30, 2013

IBM, GF, and Samsung offer a glimpse of chipmaking's future

Below is a slide showing GF' process tech roadmap for the next little while:

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ISSCC 2010 Preview: Assessing '05 predictions

A couple of safe ISSCC'05 bets reviewd by Don Scansen. Have ISSCC organizers learned something by looking back?

Circuit Simulation with SPICE OPUS, Theory and Practice

Authors: Tadej Tuma, Árpád Bûrmen

The Complete Book on Contemporary Circuit Design
Series: Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology
ISBN: 978-0-8176-4866-4, 2009, Hardcover; A Birkhäuser book

Download simulation examples from chapter 7 (examples07.zip 23KB)

More about the book ...

Visit also OPUS Spice web site.

BBC News: Meeting the man behind Moore's Law

Chip future... But, Dr Moore says, the industry can only go on shrinking transistors for so long. Eventually, the features will become so small that the atomic structure of the materials will be a limitation, possibly spelling the end of Moore's Law.

So what does he think will happen in the next 40 years?

"I'm through with making predictions," Moore chuckles. "Get it right once and quit."

Read More...

IMEC presented 22nm CMOS SRAM 0.099µm2 cell:

IMEC presented the world's first functional 22nm CMOS SRAM cells made using EUV lithography. The 0.099µm² SRAM cells are made with FinFETs. In its core EC program PULLNANO, IMEC works together with leading IC companies on future CMOS technologies. Key partners in 2009 are Intel, Micron, Panasonic, Samsung, TSMC, Elpida, Hynix, Powerchip, Infineon, NXP, Qualcomm, Sony, ST Microelectronics. With such concerted collaborations, the semiconductor industry is able to keep innovating and to follow Moore's momentum, noted Luc Van den hove, COO at IMEC.

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

IBM 28nm CMOS Technology

IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon Technologies, Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., and STMicroelectronics have defined and are jointly developing a 28nm, high-k metal gate (HKMG), low-power bulk CMOS process technology.

>>> Press releases

CMOS vs. Bipolar Operational Amplifiers: Which is best for my application?

CMOS, bipolar or even BiCMOS are common process technologies used for the development of operational amplifiers, and each of these process technologies offers their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to op amp design. Which one’s the best in terms of:

• Power Consumption
• Voltage Offset
• Noise Performance

>>> Read further

April 14, 2009: ESSDERC/ESSCIRC submission deadlines

ESSDERC/ESSCIRC submission deadlines have been moved to April 14, 2009!

Visit the conference web site: http://www.essderc2009.org

after Analogschaltungen'09 in Hannover

The workshop program included following topics:

• Novel CMOS/BiCMOS circuit architectures for the GHz range applications
  
• Models of semiconductor devices for analog/RF (GHz range) applications
  
• Influences of the system design and optimization on the components in the analog circuit applications
• Classical and quantum mechanical effects in analog/RF nano-silicon circuits at GHz frequencies
  

The workshop has been organized by:

• Prof. Dr. -Ing. Wolfgang Mathis, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Theoretische Elektrotechnik; Appelstr. 9A, 30167 Hannover

in cooperation with:

• Prof. Dr.rer. nat. Doris Schmitt- Landsiedel, TU München; Lehrstuhl für Technische Elektronik
• Prof. Dr. -Ing. Heinrich Klar, TU Berlin; Institut für Technische Informatik und Mikroelektronik
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Y. Manoli, Universität Freiburg; IMTEK

SOI Technology Goes Mainstream

SOI Technology Goes Mainstream
The unique characteristics of silicon on insulator are opening the door to new applications and the infrastructure needed to boost and support expanding markets.
Ruth DeJule, Contributing Editor -- Semiconductor International, 3/1/2009