Toshiba and IBM Extend Semiconductor Research and Development Collaboration

IBM and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they have entered into a joint development agreement on 32nm bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.

Since December 2005, IBM and Toshiba have collaborated on fundamental advanced research related to semiconductor process technologies at the 32nm technology generation and beyond at the research facilities in Yorktown and Albany, New York. Building on the success of this ongoing research collaboration, the two companies have agreed to extend the scope of the joint development work to now include 32nm bulk CMOS process technology.

Under the new agreement, Toshiba joins a six company IBM Alliance for 32nm bulk CMOS process technology development* based in East Fishkill, New York.

Through this collaboration IBM and Toshiba plan to accelerate development of next-generation technology to achieve high-performance, energy-efficient chips at the 32nm process level, and to enhance the companies' leadership in the global semiconductor industry.

"This agreement caps a year of extraordinary momentum for IBM and its semiconductor Alliance Partners" said Gary Patton, vice president for IBM's Semiconductor Research and Development Center. "In 2008 we'll continue to strive to collectively deliver the industry breakthroughs and manufacturing milestones that come from talented engineers and semiconductor experts working in an open, collaborative environment with access to world class R&D facilities such as UAlbany NanoCollege's Albany NanoTech complex"

"This is a promising collaboration" said Mr. Shozo Saito, Corporate Senior Vice President of Toshiba Corporation and President & CEO of Toshiba's Semiconductor Company. "In addition to continuing the successful collaboration on fundamental advanced research, Toshiba will jointly develop the state-of-the-art 32nm bulk CMOS process integration technology, as a member of the world-class seven-company IBM Alliance. Concurrently we will also accelerate our own development of integration technology for the 32nm process at Toshiba's Advanced Microelectronics Center in Yokohama, toward achieving early production of leading-edge devices"

Source: Toshiba