Tokyo, June 20, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Electronics and NECtoday introduced a new device technology that delivers both lowstandby power consumption and high operating speeds for system LSIsusing design rules for 55 nanometer (nm) and below. The mainfeatures of the new technology are 1) threshold control in the high-k (high dielectric constant) material used as the transistor gateinsulator, 2) high carrier mobility through process-induced stress,and 3) a fine-pitch design rule through leading-edge immersionlithography. Together, these advances enabled the development of a55nm generation CMOS platform.
Thanks to high-k process innovations, this CMOS platform combinesa wide threshold voltage range with high carrier mobility, allowingit to provide the low standby power consumption required by mobiledevices together with the high performance required by high-speedlogic applications, all with the same transistor structure.
To implement 55nm node design rules, the companies used apioneering immersion lithography process. This allowed the pitch ofthe M1 interconnect layer to be reduced to 160nm and enabled a SRAMcell size of 0.432 square microns. Compared to widely used 90nmprocesses, transistor density is 2.5 times higher.
UltimateLowPower(TM), which is a combination of the new devicetechnology and circuit technologies such as variable-voltage powersupply, will enable up to a tenfold increase in battery life.
The principal features of the new technology are as follows.
(1) A high-k dielectric for transistor threshold control
Traditionally, the main objective of designs using high-k gateinsulators has been to reduce gate leakage, which reduces standbypower consumption. However, low gate leakage is difficult to achieveat the same time as low threshold voltage, which is advantageous forhigh performance. As a result, such designs have had a limited rangeof application. This problem was overcome by process innovations forthe high-k gate layer, which made it possible to widen the thresholdvoltage range without increasing channel impurities. This result ishigher carrier mobility and higher performance.
(2) Higher mobility through process-induced stress
Cost-effective process-induced stress techniques were used toenhance electron and hole mobility. By optimizing shallow trenchisolation (STI) stress, sidewall stress, and silicon nitride (SiN)stress on the gate, it was possible to improve the performance ofboth NMOS and PMOS.
Combined with the innovations described in (1), which improvemobility by suppressing impurity scattering, these techniquesallowed drive currents to be increased by 22% for NMOS and 31% forPMOS, compared to 65nm nodes from NEC Electronics. These are thehighest levels ever attained in the industry.
(3) Fine-pitch design rules through immersion lithography
NEC Electronics pioneered the introduction of argon fluoride(ArF) immersion lithography. This enabled the development of ultra-small SRAM cells with generous operating margins.
NEC Electronics will use this technology to implement low-power/high-performance system LSIs for a wide range of applications, frommobile devices through networking.
NEC Electronics and NEC will announce these results at the 2006Symposium on VLSI Technology, to be held in Hawaii from June 13through 15.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701; NASDAQ: NIPNY) is one of the world'sleading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprisebusiness solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of itsdiverse and global base of customers. NEC delivers tailoredsolutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electrondevices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks,and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NECElectronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000people worldwide and had net sales of 4,855 billion yen (approx.$45.4 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2005.
For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at:http://www.nec.com
Newsroom: http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/
About NEC Electronics
NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) specializes insemiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutionsfor the high-end computing and broadband networking markets, systemsolutions for the mobile handsets, PC peripherals, automotive anddigital consumer markets, and multi-market solutions for a widerange of customer applications. NEC Electronics Corporation has 26subsidiaries worldwide including NEC Electronics America, Inc.(www.necelam.com) and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH(www.eu.necel.com). Additional information about NEC Electronicsworldwide can be found at www.necel.com.
Contact:In JapanDiane Foley NEC Corporationd-foley@ax.jp.nec.com+81-3-3798-6511 Sophie Yamamoto NEC Electronics Corporationsophie.yamamoto@necel.com+81 44-435-1676
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