Samsung Semiconductor India Research (SSIR) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have announced a partnership to promote research and development in an on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection.
The partnership aims to build an ESD device solution to protect ultra-high-speed serial interfaces in advanced integrated circuits (ICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) products.
The related research will be carried out at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE), IISc. According to an IISc release, the solutions derived from this research will be deployed in Samsung’s advanced process nodes.
“We are glad to partner with IISc to boost semiconductor innovation and envisage developing ESD knowledge with the expertise available at IISc. Our goal is also to increase capacity building through postgraduate training programmes, providing opportunities for students to pursue industry internships, and encouraging entrepreneurial ventures by young researchers,” said Balajee Sowrirajan, CVP and MD, SSIR.
ICs and SoCs are sensitive to ESD failures, especially those developed using advanced nanoscale CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technologies. According to IISc, the majority of IC chip failures and field returns are attributed to ESD failures.
“We look forward to collaborating with Samsung Semiconductor India Research in the area of advanced nanoelectronics device research. The partnership reinforces our commitment to strengthen industry-academia engagements that can make a significant impact in the coming years,” said Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc.
An important element of the semiconductor innovation effort is research and development (R&D) in ESD technology for dependable interfaces and SoCs that function at low power and high speed. “We have been collaborating with semiconductor industries worldwide on advanced nanoelectronics technologies. We have carried out both fundamental and applied research on ESD protection devices, with an emphasis on creating practical solutions for the semiconductor industry in a range of technology nodes,” said Mayank Shrivastava, who heads the MSDLab, and will be leading this collaborative effort.
Samsung Semiconductor India Research, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, is the technology hub. It enables innovation in both hardware development and software-powered solutions in semiconductor technologies.