China's largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry – Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, today announced that SMIC, Wuhan Xinxin, Tsinghua University, Beijing University, Fudan University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Microelectronics have collaborated to setup the "IC Advanced Technology Research Institute" to create the most advanced IC technology research and development institution in China.
As semiconductor technology continues to advance into the 20nm node, the difficulty of development and investment in the technology has substantially increased. By integrating the resources of the company and research institutions, the efficiency and pace of research and development will increase immensely. The IC Advanced Technology Research Institute will focus on forming a platform to integrate the domestic IC industry supply chain, equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, foundries, design firms and research institute. This is an industry, institute, research and application collaboration platform and can also act as a verification platform for domestic-made equipment and material research development.
Currently, the research institute will focus on the mainstream 20nm and below technologies for research and development which includes advanced logic technology, advanced non-volatile memory technology, verification of domestic equipment and materials, and related IP qualifications etc. It will also follow up with the industry's technology development and the actual needs of the customers, and will invite design, equipment, material companies, and upstream and downstream industries. They can join in as a member or in project collaboration. This institute will strengthen its international exchange and cooperation, to promote the establishment our IP infrastructure, to speed up the cultivation of patents and talent, in order to raise the core competitiveness of innovation in China's IC industry.
"The Institute will be formed to unite the strong players and combine their strengths with the initiative to explore and establish an open integrated circuit research and development platform. We will use this chance to integrate the strengths of corporations and research institutions to accelerate the development of advanced process technology, and address issues the industry faces, such as IP protection, and thus promote the rapid development of China's IC industry," said Dr. Tzu-Yin Chiu, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director of SMIC, at the signing ceremony.
"Working together is a move in the right direction. Government supports the effective collaboration among industry, academic and research. By working together, our research can focus on the market and application and it can also give rise to stronger R&D institutions and drive a deeper international cooperation in technological development. I hope today is a good beginning, and our technological development in IC will get faster and better," said Mr. Jian-Lin Cao, Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Science and Technology.