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Editorial
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Minatec, Nanotec 300 and Crolles 2: scope unrivalled in Europe |
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Isère
opens its doors to an international giant in nanotechnology research:
Motorola joins Philips and STMicroelectronics in the Crolles 2 alliance |
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 It
is no coincidence that Minatec and the joint Motorola, Philips and
STMicroelectronics R&D centre were located in the Grenoble area.
They are the result of a converging strategy. The Grenoble-Isère
site has all the necessary ingredients for projects on this scale
to succeed. Research, higher education and industry have long enjoyed
a rare brand of synergy, winning international recognition. This
has been backed by a policy of constant investment. Over the last
10 years the microelectronics business has invested e4bn with support
from the local authorities. Another e3bn are scheduled to be spent
in coming years.
As a result the Grenoble area now offers nanotechnology specialists
a complete innovation system combining nanoscience, basic technology
research and industrial R&D, not to mention expertise in software
technology, biotechnology and micro-energy sources.
All these factors are vital to the competitive edge of firms working
in a location that is powerful, innovative and fully prepared for
tomorrow's technological challenges. This exceptional environment
certainly Motorola's decision last spring to join STMicroelectronics
and Philips in the Crolles 2 alliance, making it the France's largest
industrial investment of the last 10 years.
At the same time CEA-Leti unveiled its Nanotec 300 project, which
will make a decisive contribution to creating next-generation industrial
technology. In the first place it will benefit the members of the
Crolles 2 alliance, but others will follow, giving them the means
to produce chips with a 30 nanometre process (compared with 90 at
present).
Grenoble-Isère is becoming a unique centre in Europe, open
to external collaboration and input. Its power is based on three
key components: Minatec, Nanotec 300 and the Crolles 2 R&D centre.
All this shows how much everyone involved in this remarkable process
- from the French State to industry and research - has achieved
in less than 10 years, thanks to a virtuous circle involving research
and industry.
What is taking shape in Grenoble is vital to the future of our economy.
Its impact will reach well beyond the 8,000, or so, jobs that Crolles
2, Minatec and Nanotec will generate in coming years. It is the
affirmation of Europe's determination to occupy a strategic position
in the key technologies that will shape the 21st century.
Pascal Colombani,
General Administrator of CEA
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This
agreement is due to the huge cost of R&D investments, forcing
firms to pool their efforts.
 The
partners in the industrial agreement behind Crolles 2
Nearly
$1.4bn invested between now and 2005, with a further $600m (not
yet decided) between 2005 and 2007, $1.2bn R&D expenditure and
1,200 direct jobs - these are just some of the breathtaking figures
associated with the agreement that Motorola signed last April with
Philips and STMicroelectronics, to set up a new joint R&D research
centre and laboratory in Crolles.
The combined resources of the three firms ($3bn) will be devoted
to developing next-generation CMOS technology, with the objective
of packing more processing power into increasingly small spaces.
The challenges the new centre will have to overcome concern nanometric
processes (90 to 32 nm) and fabrication technologies (pilot line
for 300 mm wafers). The triple alliance is aiming for nothing less
than world leadership in nanometric technology applied to systems
on a chip (SoC), production of which will start at Crolles 2 in
2003. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the
world's largest chip manufacturer and an added value partner in
the triple alliance, will be implementing in Taiwan jointly defined
basic technologies to complement the production capacity of the
three other partners.
Motorola will be contributing its portfolio of cutting edge technologies,
in particular SOI and embedded MRAM (universal memory), as well
as its know-how in advanced copper interconnects. This will enhance
cooperation on fundamental CMOS processes already underway between
Philips and STMicroelectronics, including embedded DRAM and SRAM
and analog CMOS technologies.
To support the alliance, CEA, which has already played a key role
in the success of Crolles 1, will be increasing its research capability
at its Grenoble laboratories, with the launch of Nanotec 300.
The triple alliance has also received the support of local authorities
(including the Isère Department Council). This offers further
proof of the wisdom of launching the Minatec programme, the aim
of which is to set up a centre of micro and nanotechnology excellence
in Grenoble, bringing together in one place research, teaching and
industry.
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| From
nanoscience to industrial realization / Grenoble is establishing
itself as the top European centre for innovation in micro and
nanotechnology |
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 Click
to enlarge and download pdf file
Nanotec 300
With the launch of this new tool CEA has further enhanced Grenoble's
competitive position. Whereas the Minatec centre, which is the
result of CEA's partnership with INP Grenoble, focuses above
all on components and systems, Nanotec 300 will target next
generation silicon technology (300 mm wafers) and the nanometric
processes that will become commonplace over the next 10 years.
CEA-Leti is setting up a comprehensive research system, targeting
industrial production and a stronger competitive position for
France and Europe.
By 2003 150 researchers will be operational at the facility.
Their prime concern will be to bring 32 nm processes (on 300
mm technology) within reach of their industrial partners.
Minatec
Minatec is dedicated to research, teaching and micro and nanotechnology
development. It represents an investment of more than e150m.
60,000 square metres of buildings will be built near the existing
CEA centre. 3,000 people (including 1,200 researchers and 1,000
academics) will be working together to design tomorrow's technology
and build Europe's first centre for innovation in micro and
nanotechnology.
Crolles 2
The three industrial partners involved in this operation will
be investing e2.8bn to pool their research efforts. In particular,
this will take the form of a pilot fab line producing next generation
components and an industrial process compatible with the ones
operated by TSMC. Some 1,200 direct jobs will be created.
 
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A
fertile environment
Grenoble, France's second largest centre for research
: There are 17,000 jobs in research, including 3,000 just
in microelectronics. Nanosciences and pluridisciplinary fields
- physics, life sciences, software and energy - occupy pride
of place. Grenoble is home to 220 laboratories and five international
public research centres. Some 300 international patents are
filed each year in micro and nanotechnology.
CEA-Leti, one of Europe's top
applied research centres for microelectronics
: CEA
Grenoble and Leti, one of the leading laboratories in micro
and nanotechnology, and information and communications systems,
will be among Minatec's prime assets. The figures below speak
for themselves: about 800 CEA employees and a further 200
seconded from industry or research; an annual budget of almost
e120m, including e25m investments; more than 100 patents registered
every year; 180 industrial partnerships, including joint laboratories
and international collaboration. All in all Leti can justifiably
claim to be in the top league for R&D in the service of
cutting edge industry.
Microtechnology teaching facilities
unique in France
- With almost 1,000 degrees in micro and nanotechnology,
from technicians to PhDs, Grenoble's universities - INP Grenoble
and Université Joseph Fourier - rank as France's top
centre for training in these specialities. Every year sees
the launch of new courses, for all categories from technicians
up to PhDs.
- The Centre for continuous training in microelectronics
and microsystems, jointly operated by INP Grenoble and CEA,
provides firms with a range of training courses in the most
advanced technologies. It draws, in particular, on the technical
resources - clean rooms, design, characterization and test
tools at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (Cime).
A powerful university complex
Grenoble's four universities take a total of 53,000 students.
INP Grenoble alone accounts for nine schools of engineering,
particularly in microelectronics, computer science, physics,
chemistry, etc.
Innovative firms employing 15,000 people
: Many of the big names in microelectronics are represented
in the Grenoble area: Atmel, STMicroelectronics, Philips,
Motorola, Infineon, On Semiconductor, Soitec, Memscap, Thales,
ASML, Applied Materials, Silvaco, Air Liquide and Synopsys.
More than 25 advanced technology firms and high potential
startups have been launched over the last five years, notably
Tronic's, Apibio, Teem Photonics, iRoc Technologies, Xenocs,
Opsitech and Polyspace.
A stronger position in an extremely
competitive environment
With all the strategic decisions taken in spring 2002, coming
on top of a constant flow of investment, Grenoble-Isère
now comfortably exceeds the critical mass necessary to make
a centre competitive in the world market. As a centre for
innovation Minatec can stand the comparison with other international
projects, with the same ambitions, in Japan, on the east and
west coasts of the United States and in Taïwan. But Minatec
is the only one to have a ready supply upstream - and this
is its principal asset - of researchers capable of exploring
new routes to the infinitely small. So it is hardly surprising
that major US and Japanese corporations are taking a close
interest in Minatec and in Grenoble area.
Support structures
: To
encourage the industrial realization of projects emerging
from laboratories and validate them, various funding and specific
support organizations have been set up. They range from the
Grain corporate incubator to the Emertec seed fund, the Hall
of technology entrepreneurship at Grenoble's ESC graduate
business school, and, of course, Minatec itself. The various
bodies provide help setting up new companies, technological
intelligence and marketing services, all of which contributes
to creating an economic environment that favours success.
Just recently EDF Capital-Investissement and the CoVenteX
fund have opened offices in Grenoble.
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Joël Monnier, STMicroelectronics Vice-President in charge of
R&D
"Over and above the almost ancestral cooperation that links
us with Leti - part of ST was an offshoot from the laboratory -
the Minatec centre will give us access to emerging alternative lines
of research that large companies, like ours, cannot undertake in
partnerships."
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Marc Cuzin, Apibio CEO
"For our company, which specializes in DNA chips, the 'idea-breeder'
side of Minatec will enable us to keep in touch with new ideas that
prefigure tomorrow's new products. It will also provide us with
an opportunity to promote our skills and meet international customers."
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Jean-Michel Lamure, Soitec President
"As an offshoot from CEA-Leti we are keen to continue, indeed
increase, collaboration with its laboratories to improve our current
product, silicon on insulator, and other materials. It will be very
important for Soitec to pursue this relationship within the framework
of Minatec. It will enable our three partners - research laboratories,
higher education and industry - to meet on a daily basis in shared
premises and thus develop even greater synergy." |
André Vallini, President of Isère Department Council
*
"International competition is fierce. Companies not only have
to come out on top, but they also have to stay there. So we need
to keep thinking up projects that will inject new creative energy
to maintain the dynamic. That is what Minatec is all about."
*
Isère Department Council takes overall contracting responsibility
for Minatec
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| INP
Grenoble mobilizing young brains from France and Europe for Minatec |
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wwww.minatec.com:
the portal for micro and nanotechnology news |
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 With
a job opportunities forum next November, preceded by information
sessions in 10 of France's top gra-duate schools, Delphine Le Serre,
aged 24 (see opposite), is proving quite an ambassador for Minatec.
Delphine is a student at ENSPG, the physics school of the INP Grenoble
group, and a components specialist. She is particu-larly keen on
micro and nanotechnology and determined to share her interest with
other students. As a sideline she handles communication for INPG
Conseil, the junior enterpri-se at INP Grenoble, which is when she
realized her contemporaries were not particularly au fait with micro
and nanotechnology and the associated job opportunities.
The project leadership team at Minatec asked INPG Conseil to study
the perception of micro and nanotechnology in several French engineering
schools and then organize the first specialist forum in this field
for graduates and business. It will be held on 29 November 2002,
with some 30 firms attending, including a large proportion of SMEs
and will attract several 100 students in micro and nanotechnology
to Grenoble. Students interested in Minatec, and the openings it
will create, may consult the centre's website. They will find offers
of jobs and internships and potential thesis subjects, as well as
information on companies in this sector and their job opportunities.
You
want to take part in the Micro and Nanotechnology Forum?
Companies and research laboratories wishing to take part in
the Micro and Nanotechnology Forum should contact INP
Grenoble Junior Conseil at the following address: BP 46, 38402
St-Martin d'Hères Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 (0)4 76 82
62 50, e-mail: inpg.jc.gepr@inpg.fr |
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The website
at www.minatec.com is managed by AEPI, the Isère enterprise
board. It is currently evolving into THE site for micro and nanotechnology
news. It now offers local, national and international news from
this sector of science and industry, as well as a schedule of conferences,
seminars and events all over the world. The site will of course
continue to keep visitors up to date on developments at Minatec
and elsewhere in Grenoble-Isère: new arrivals, investments,
job opportunities, etc.
Starting in September 2002 it will provide comprehensive information
on the Minatec 2003 conference, to be held on 22 to 26 September
in Grenoble.
Promoting
local microelectronics players
The site hosts a database of microelectronics and nanotechnology
players in Grenoble-Isère. It also provides a way for local
players to promote their work and the events they organize, as well
as posting job opportunities.
Contact: info@minatec.com
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Diary |
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Information search and extraction for text documents in life
sciences
International seminar organized by Xerox Research Centre Europe
and Inria. September 19-20, 2002 Grenoble. www.xrce.xerox.com/showroom/conferences
US-EU International Collaboration Day
Organized by the Artist Network of Excellence. Sunday October 6th,
2002 in Grenoble.
Web site
EMSOFT '02
Focuses on the principles of embedded software development and aims
at covering all aspects of embedded software ; co-located in Grenoble
with CASES02. 7-9 October 2002 in Grenoble. www.emsoft.org
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CASES 2002: International Conference on Compilers, Architectures
and Synthesis for Embedded Systems. 9-11 October 2002 in Grenoble.
www.crest.gatech.edu/conferences/CASES2002/
Wodim 2002: 12th workshop on dieletrics in microelectronics.
18-20 November 2002. Contact: gerard.ghibaudo@enserg.fr
- www.imep.enserg.fr
sOc 2003 - Smart Objects Conference: from networked
devices to ambient communication: hardware, software, applications,
uses and ergonomics. 15-17 May 2003 - .www.grenoble-soc.com
Minatec2003 - The International Micro and Nanotechnology
Forum is a meeting place for research and industry, now in its third
edition. 22-26 September 2003 in Grenoble. www.minatec.com/minatec2003/
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Download
pdf version (265 KB) 
Subscribe
to the Minatec newsletter
Contact : lalettre@minatec.com
The Minatec Newsletter
is published by Agence d'Etudes et de Promotion de l'Isère.
Senior editors: Paul Jacquet, President of INP Grenoble / Jean Therme,
Director of CEA Grenoble
Editor and coordinator: AEPI, Jacques
Chevallier
Editorial committee: Minatec project team
Graphic Design: Insign. Photos : Artechnique, CEA, M.Jary, X...., ....
. / Translation:
Harry Forster
Production and printing: SGP, 38330 Biviers
Postal address:
Pôle d'Innovation Minatec - 17 Rue des Martyrs - 38054 Grenoble
Cedex 9
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