iRel40

imec

Imec is a world-leading R&D and innovation hub for nanoelectronics and digital technologies. At imec, we develop smart and sustainable groundbreaking-innovations in several application domains such as healthcare, logistic and manufacturing, smart cities, smart mobility and smart energy aiming to enhance quality of life.

Imec headquarter is located in Leuven, Belgium, while other imec sites are in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, India and Japan. Their staff of over 4500 skilled people from more than 97 nationalities includes almost 700 industrial residents and guest researchers. Imec creates groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as smart healthcare, smart mobility, smart cities, smart industries, smart education, smart energy, smart agrofood and smart infotainment. Imec has many years of experimental and modelling expertise in reliability studies for electronics, covering all levels from CMOS till full systems.

Imec has been working on GaN technology for more than 15 years, building up a strong expertise and knowledge in GaN epitaxy, processing technology and device engineering. Imec takes today gallium nitride on 200mm silicon e-mode and diode technology to a higher level of maturity and explores the next generation GaN technology with higher level of integration (GaN-IC) and higher performances.

Role

Within iRel4.0 imec will focus on two main topics, which are related to UC T-2 (Fast commutation GaN-IC for LIDAR applications), lead by imec, and IP8 (monitoring health of fuel tanks in hybrid vehicles). Concerning the activity on LIDAR driver, imec will develop a low-voltage GaN-IC platform enabling the integration of a power device and of the control circuitry. The reliability of the fabricated devices and circuits will be assessed either by imec and by other partners involved in this project. On the other hand, the activity within IP8 will aim to define a digital twin for the IC-package and sensor module basing on a complex simulation model; the failure predictability of the digital twin will be then evaluated, and its model will be used to determine the remaining useful life of the system.

Key contribution

  • Development of low-voltage GaN-IC platform, allowing higher level of integration and increased functionality (WP3-WP4)
  • Evaluate backend of line reliability in GaN low-voltage high-current devices (WP5)
  • Fabricate a prototype for use case T-2
  • Digital twin mechanical stress model of an IC package: development of the model and validation through a real experiment in a harsh environment (WP2)
 
imec

Kapeldreef 75
3001 Leuven
Belgium
Phone: +32 16 28 12 11
www.imec-int.com