November 12, 2012 (Tokyo, Japan) – CANON ANELVA Corp., a leading supplier of processing equipment for the semiconductor device manufacturing industry, and the Belgian nanoelectronics research center imec will collaborate on advanced STT-MRAM (spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory) research and development.
The collaboration will run in the framework of imec’s R&D program on advanced emerging memory technologies. Imec’s research program aims at exploring the full technology potential of STT-MRAM including performance beyond 1ns and scalability beyond 10 nm for embedded & stand alone applications. Research will be performed on CANON ANELVA’s deposition tool which has been installed in imec’s state-of-the-art 300-mm clean room. The tool complements imec’s advanced STT-MRAM equipment cluster. Combined with imec’s advanced litho-cluster and its material engineering capabilities, imec’s industrial partners now have access to a complete 300-mm STT-MRAM-dedicated processing capability. The collaboration between imec and CANON ANELVA will also include the establishment of the baseline process for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), joint R&D on thin film deposition and stack engineering for high-density STT-MRAM, and the development of integrated STT-MRAM devices.
“We are very pleased to co-develop with CANON ANELVA the processes for scaling STT-MRAM technology, a promising alternative high-density memory technology for the existing memory technologies such as SRAM and DRAM,” said Luc Van den hove, CEO at imec. “The first excellent lab tests on CANON ANELVA’s MTJs confirm the joint ambition of imec and CANON ANELVA to significantly move forward with scaling STT-MRAM devices, bringing this technology closer to industrial viability.”
“Working with imec, a premier R&D facility on advanced memory scaling, is an exciting opportunity for CANON ANELVA,” said Junro Sakai, President and Representative Director at CANON ANELVA.
About CANON ANELVA
CANON ANELVA, a 100% subsidiary of Canon Inc., has continuously cultivated ultra-high vacuum technology, a core competence to develop and manufacture a wide-range of thin film forming and processing tools as well as vacuum components. CANON ANELVA has developed and delivered to numbers of customers the MTJ processing tools for more than 10 years, which enables a multi-layer thin film deposition of high uniformity required by nonvolatile memory. CANON ANELVA has strived for creation of high value-added products based on reliable technologies while playing a role in developing the field of electronics. Further information on CANON ANELVA can be found at http://www.canon-anelva.co.jp/english/.
