Minatec

Leti’s cleanroom, characterization, and CMOS and MEMS process equipment (and the associated advanced processes) are unique in Europe. While technological resources of this caliber are in high demand among manufacturers, their cost remains prohibitive. It is not unusual for a manufacturer to need just some of the steps in a process, a prototype, or a pre-series of just a few hundred wafers. Now end users, integrators, custom wafer vendors, machine suppliers, and other manufacturers can access these services on demand via the Leti 3 S (Silicon Specialty Solutions) line-up of services.
Leti 3 S services are designed to be easy to understand and rapidly available. They also ensure a seamless interface with a company’s R&D projects. Leti is actively promoting the services, which are expected to attract many new users!

Contact: LETI-3S@cea.fr
 

Movea will leverage research conducted at Leti to develop new solutions to today’s obesity problem. Leti developed motion detection methods capable of identifying different types of physical activity—such as sitting up straight, slouching, standing, lying down, walking, and running. These physical activity data are then sent to a smartphone installed with real-time analysis software. The next phase of the project will entail converting the data into calories burned.
Leti’s system offers several advantages over similar systems currently available on the market. It is more sensitive and reliable—regardless of the user’s position—and it is also more robust, with a 90% correct recognition rate over the 230 hours of testing performed in partnership with a Lyon hospital.

Contact: pierre.jallon@cea.fr
 
 

The fourth Junior Scientist & Industry Annual Meeting (JSIAM) will be held at MINATEC on March 30, 2012. The event, organized by GIANT campus students, will give PhD students an opportunity to meet with industry professionals. Some 50 volunteers from businesses like Crocus Technology, bioMérieux, and Soitec participated in the 2011 JSIAM.
The morning session will feature presentations about the role of PhDs in today’s businesses. Next, the Midi MINATEC brown bag lunch talk will showcase the video CVs of participating PhD students. Then, over sandwiches, participating professionals will get a chance to meet our PhD students and discover their poster CVs, which will be on display. The afternoon session will be devoted to panel discussions.

To learn more, visit www.goo.gl/TD1wV  and http://www.minatec.org/jsiam2012.
Contact: francine.papillon@minatec.org
 

Ensuring that packaging and assembly technologies can be adapted to 450 mm wafers is an emerging issue among microelectronics industry insiders. That’s why SEMI Europe plans to hold a half-day meeting on April 24 to discuss 450 mm and panel-scale packaging technology.
The event will be open to microelectronics equipment, materials, and process suppliers; integrators; foundries; researchers; and students. Participants will get a valuable opportunity to discuss their viewpoints, experiences, and challenges. The meeting will be of particular interest to attendees of the MiNaPAD conference, another event dedicated to packaging and assembly which will take place just after the SEMI Europe meeting

Contact: yguillou@semi.org
 
 

“We need to look at metrics other than the sheer number of patents”

IPT Alliance, a consortium made up of Avenium Consulting, Patev, and ICM Advisor, is rolling out a Europe-wide research program to establish new “patent indicators” for large companies. Can you tell us what this means?
Companies often assess their patent policy by looking at the number of patents held or at licensing revenues. These quantitative metrics are necessary, of course, but they don’t give the whole picture. Likewise, some companies set quantitative patent targets without first having looked at the contribution their patents make to their company’s value. A more comprehensive set of indicators will help us move beyond the “numbers game.”

Do you have an idea of what the indicators will look like?
We have a plan for tackling the issue. First, we will categorize a company’s patents and assess protection by product category (innovative products or products nearing the end of their life cycle), and then we will assess the protection of its flagship products.
We will adjust the indicators to account for a company’s industry, competitive landscape, and strategy. The goal will be to measure the contribution a company’s patents make in terms of business value (market penetration, profitability, and other factors), and to identify possible areas for improvement.

Could research institutes also benefit from a new set of patent indicators?
Obviously, a business thinks in terms of strategy and profits and adopts a short to medium-term outlook. A research institute is different. A decade can go by between the time a patent is filed and the first licensing revenues start to come in. However, a set of indicators for certain patents that are closer to hitting the market would be useful. But the methodology and criteria would have to be different from those used for companies.

Contact: philippe.fornies@avenium-consulting.com
 

Late 2011 brought four new businesses to the BHT: Advanced Liquid Logic France (labs-on-chip); HelioDEL (power LEDs); Hotblock Onboard (thermoelectricity); and Apix (multigas analysis). Apix, which recently won a national award (including financing) for new innovative technology companies, was officially founded on December 6.
SEM MINATEC Entreprises manages the BHT, which is now home to 22 businesses. Businesses can opt to use the BHT as their official address and benefit from a range of services even if they do not have offices in the building. The four latest start-ups to join the ranks of the BHT chose this option, and will now be working to set up research partnerships with MINATEC labs.

Contact: communicationbht@gmail.com
 

Competitive clusters Minalogic and Tenerrdis have set up a series of seminars designed to help start-ups and SMBs to acquire the business skills they need to grow. Each of the six three-hour sessions will address a different topic, initially from a theoretical angle (presented by a consultant), and then from a more practical angle with real-world examples from entrepreneurs. This year’s topics will include business development for technologically innovative businesses, hiring the right people for your sales staff, and aligning your thought processes with your business’ strategy to increase your chances of success.
Participants can register for one, several, or all six sessions.

For further information and to register, visit www.minalogic.com  
Contact: ingrid.mattioni@minalogic.com
 

Start-up Aselta Nanographics continues to attract investors, raising €2.65 million to finance expansion into Japan and the United States. The company, which now has 20 employees, plans to open offices in both countries within the year to ensure the strong customer support required by its products.
Aselta Nanographics’ success comes as no surprise; the company’s software solves two major problems with sub-32nm lithography: long write times for advanced mask resolution issues, and the resulting production yield problems.
 
A leader in its field, Aselta Nanographics runs a joint lab with Leti that gives it access to the cleanroom equipment the company could not afford on its own for the almost instantaneous testing of new solutions. , sur des équipements de salle blanche hors de portée de ses seuls moyens.

Contact: christophe.guittard@aselta.com
 

The 13th Ultimate Integration on Silicon (ULIS) conference will be held at MINATEC on March 5–7, 2012. ULIS was the first conference held at MINATEC when the campus opened its doors in 2006.
A slate of international speakers will present the latest advances in integrated circuit and component physics, with a particular focus on CMOS technologies. March 5 will be devoted to tutorials for PhD candidates, researchers, and professionals from industry enrolled in continuing or executive education programs.
The conference is being organized by a consortium of academic and industrial research organizations that spans Europe and includes Leti, IMEP-LAHC, and STMicroelectronics. The conference is also being supported by the Nanofunction network of excellence.

For the full program and to register, visit http://ulisconference.org
Contact: raphael.clerc@phelma.grenoble-inp.fr

 
 

Here’s something biologists will be happy about: researches from INAC, Leti, and INSERM have finally developed fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals that retain the majority of their luminescence and remain stable for several months in water. Until now, nanocrystals in water deteriorated in less than a day and quickly lost 90% of their luminescence.
The researchers focused their efforts on hydrophilic ligands made from cysteine to counteract nanocrystals’ hydrophobic tendencies. They strengthened the cysteine-crystal bond by controlling pH levels, and added a reducing agent to inhibit the formation of dimers that reduce luminescence. The study targeted InP-ZnS core-shell nanocrystals, but the results also apply to CdSe, CuInS2, and other semiconductor materials.

Contact: peter.reiss@cea.fr