Innovation Through Collaborative R&D More Important Than Ever
Ludo Deferm, Executive Vice President, IMEC, Leuven, Belgium -- Semiconductor International, 10/1/2009
The semiconductor industry is facing the headwinds of a challenging operating environment. However, even in periods of economic downturn, the industry will continue to seek new markets, and innovation is the key to prepare for the time when the economy picks up again. It is my conviction that the semiconductor industry has a promising future, with semiconductors becoming ever more ubiquitous, making our lives ever more comfortable in various ways.
We are on the eve of a new era, where semiconductors will be more pervasive than they are today, with nanoelectronics offering tremendous opportunities for markets such as health care, energy, home entertainment, etc. Our offices, living rooms, cars and clothes will all acquire intelligence. Consumer electronics will make our lives more comfortable. Biomedical electronics will improve health care facilities of our aging population and develop more efficient diagnostics and therapy, and the photovoltaics industry will offer solutions for a sustainable environment.
Although the semiconductor industry is under severe pressure today, the way to survive — even to thrive — is through innovation. Being innovative with a limited research budget may seem a contradiction, but collaborative pre-competitive research (i.e., sharing costs and risks with partners) offers the industry an opportunity to prepare for the future in a cost-efficient and rapid way. Preparing their future products gives innovative companies a head start when the economy surges again. Because they can integrate innovative solutions immediately, they can enter markets ahead of companies that deferred their R&D efforts.
I am convinced that we are not yet at the end of CMOS scaling. Advanced CMOS scaling (More Moore) will continue for at least the next 10–15 years. But to get at those ultrasmall dimensions, new materials and new transistor architectures will be essential.
A combination of these will determine the future of the nanoelectronics industry. Although some larger semiconductor companies will definitely go on scaling for many years to come, many other players are broadening their activities and entering new markets. An increasing number of IDMs are moving to a fabless or a fab-lite model, concentrating on end-user electronics and integration instead of pure chip technology. Others are evolving toward a whole new industry driver, where CMOS processes are used to develop new devices and systems such as integrated smart sensors, power devices, CMOS MEMS and NEMS devices, biochips and photovoltaics.
Nothing will stop the growth of solar energy in the coming years. While the Earth's oil and gas stocks are gradually depleting, solar energy is inexhaustible. Moreover, renewable energy will be needed to counter the steady warming of the planet's surface. By 2025, at least 20% of the worldwide energy supply will come from renewables. Photovoltaics will ensure at least 10% of the total electricity supply.
This vision has made solar energy a new, thriving industry. Already today, the solar industry consumes more silicon that the semiconductor industry. However, to achieve a level of penetration of ~10%, the cost of PV technology should be reduced by a factor of four. Both using less silicon and increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic cells are crucial factors to realize this cost reduction. With respect to the consumer electronics industry, future consumer products will have to use less and less power. And energy harvesters will have to emerge on a global scale as alternatives for batteries.
Another new growing market for the nanoelectronics industry is health care. Due to an increasingly aging population, the cost of health care is rising. For the nanoelectronics industry, this offers tremendous opportunities as the combination of nanoelectronics and biology will offer solutions for cheaper and more efficient biomedical tools for diagnosis, therapy and care with fewer side effects.
For application-driven companies specializing in photovoltaics, consumer electronics, health care, etc., customer demand and market evolution, innovation and creativity will be major drivers. Key for these developments will be the combination of an increasingly wider set of expertise, ranging from CMOS process and design technology to packaging and interconnect technologies, and into the bio-nano convergence domain.
Especially in today's challenging business environment, an R&D platform based on open innovation, such as the model offered by IMEC, is key for industry creativity. As we identify new opportunities and markets to explore, we are expanding research efforts in areas where we are active, such as packaging technology, solar cell technology, MEMS, and biomedical electronics. Because high-volume production at low cost continues to be essential for industry growth, we are readying our cleanroom for 450 mm.
We are prepared for demand in this area.
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