imec claims compound semiconductor production breakthrough
1 min read
In a move which brings heterogeneous cmos devices a step closer, Belgian research centre imec says it has demonstrated the first III-V compound semiconductor FinFET devices integrated epitaxially on 300mm silicon wafers.
The move is not only said to enable the scaling of cmos processes to the 7nm node and beyond, but also to support the heterogeneous systems such as cmos-rf and cmos-opto.
"To our knowledge, this is the world's first functioning cmos compatible III-V FinFET device processed on 300mm wafers," stated An Steegen, imec's senior vice president for core cmos. "This is an exciting accomplishment, demonstrating the technology as a viable next-generation alternative for the current silicon based FinFET technology in high volume production."
Imec says its breakthrough process allows silicon fins to be replaced selectively with indium gallium arsenide and indium phospide, accommodating close to eight percent of atomic lattice mismatch.
Aaron Thean, director of logic R&D at imec, added: "The ability to combine scaled non silicon and silicon devices might be the next dramatic transistor face lift, breaking almost 50 years of all silicon reign over digital cmos. This work represents an important enabling step towards this new paradigm."
