Fujitsu Microelectronics is introducing a 90nm process technology which will require $700m to develop from now until 2005. Prototype production of 90nm devices has begun at Fujitsu's Akiruno technology centre in Japan.

"We have begun early design and development inside Fujitsu and with partners
in high-end applications that require optimal performance with the lowest
possible power," reports Shigeru Fujii, senior vice president, Fujitsu
Microelectronics America. "The introduction of the new process technology
will be supported with new libraries and tools so our customers will be able
to migrate quickly and efficiently."
The process will use copper and low-k dielectrics. Critical lithography will
be carried out with 193nm argon fluoride (ArF) exposure tools. There are 11
levels of metal. Three types of transistor for different functions will be
created to meet different performance, density and power consumption
requirements. The smallest is planned to be 40nm, and up to 600million
transistors will be available on one device. Some analogue components -
including an on-chip inductor - will be available for RF and 10Gbit/second
SERDES applications.
ASIC libraries are being developed to support 1.0V or 1.2V core functions,
1.8V or 2.5V I/O interfaces, high-speed and high-density memories, and
analogue/mixed-signal macros including SERDES and RF, using optimised
analogue components. A low power and low leakage ASIC library will also be
available.

Power consumption down by 40% and performance up by 20% is what is on offer
from IBM's 90nm Cu-08 ASIC process.
"IBM understands that customers don't just want new technology," says IBM
Microelectronics general manager Michel Mayer. "They want a supplier with
the experience and resources to help them use it. It's going to take more
than just smaller geometries. It's going to take technologies like copper
and low-k; design innovations like embedded DRAM and low-power transistors;
and knowledge of the customer's business and applications to best apply them
all."
Cu-08 supports up to eight layers of copper wiring, separated by a low-k
dielectric with the potential for up to 72m wireable gates on a single chip.
The technology also supports "voltage islands" where designers can use
different voltages in different circuits on the chip. A design kit is due in
Q3.
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Flexible polymers on display
The Fraunhofer Institut fuer Angewandte Polymerforschung (IAP) will present
its newest technology for flexible polymer displays at Messe Optatec in
Frankfurt from June 18-21.
Using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), it is possible to produce
flexible displays which bend and roll up for use in portable electronic
devices. But when subjected to the energy current, the polymers contained in
the display undergo oxidation, an effect which can only be countered by
introducing a plate of glass, once again rendering the display inflexible.
Fraunhofer Scientists will present a prototype showing 28x32pixels on a
50x35mm screen. Still relatively small and stiff, the display is made
possible by reducing ion contamination and keeping the polymer chains at
optimum uniformity.
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Carbon nanotube futures
Scientists at Infineon Technologies have modified a catalytic chemical
vapour deposition (CVD) process to grow carbon nanotubes at selected
locations on 150mm silicon wafers.
"Many process parameters, such as temperature and materials, are completely
compatible with the standard processes used in semiconductor manufacturing,"
reports Dr Franz Kreupl, a Nano-Team researcher.
Infineon sees the first possible application in creating vias between IC
metal layers.
"With this discovery we can consider replacing all of the metal conductors
in the chips with CNTs," claims Kreupl. Other possible scenarios for
Infineon are to replace silicon with cheaper glass in microelectronics and
even to create a true 3D circuit technology.
Infineon is not the only organisation working on CVD-created tubes. NanoLab
recently received a US Army contract to produce CVD tubes in bulk (Bulletin
433, May 20, 2002). Scientists at New York state's Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute managed to produce single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNs) nearly
20cm in length on a similar CVD process (Science, May 3, reported Bulletin
431, May 7, 2002).

Nanocyl, a spin-off of the Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (RMN) at
the University of Namur (Belgium), has developed carbon nanotubes for
commercial use in fireproof cables. The new type of cable consists of a
combination of polymers, clay and nanotubes, which has been awarded with a
patent.
The RMN laboratory, together with other Namur laboratories discovered what
became know as "Belgian Tubes" in 1993. In 2000 the RMN laboratory was the
first in the world to achieve successful cutting of carbon nanotubes on a
large scale.
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Sensors on a chip
The Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Integrierte Schaltungen (IIS) has developed
space-saving chips to perform failure detection, measurement and monitoring
using magnetic field sensors.
The new chips process the signal digitally, which reduces the error margin
compared to analogue transfer of data. The sensors can perform measurement
from a few microTeslas to several Teslas. Because the chip is manufactured
using standard CMOS technology, production cost is said to be relatively
low.
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Intel sounds a warning
Intel reduced its Q2 expecations - revenue is now forecast at $6.2-6.5bn
compared with $6.4-7.0bn previously. This cut is "primarily due to softer
than expected demand in Europe". A weaker than expected mix of
microprocessor sales is also blamed. "The company continues to expect a
seasonally stronger second half." Gross margins are now put at 49% rather
than 53%.
Europe's STMicroelectronics, by contrast, reaffirmed its Q2 guidance.
Revenues are expected to be 10% up on Q1's $1.36bn. Telecoms company
Ericsson is warning that its market may not even improve next year.
Meanwhile the two major foundries, TSMC and UMC, reported May sales figures.
TSMC's revenues were TWD15.2bn, a 77.8% increase on the same period in 2001.
UMC also managed growth (26.5%), reaching TWD6.63bn. In April, TSMC reported
44.8% growth, while UMC was still on a downward path with a 9.94% decrease
(Bulletin 332, May 13, 2002). For the year to May, TSMC shows 12.3% growth
and UMC is 30.07% behind 2001.