2012 International ESD Workshop (IEW) - Oud-Turnhout, Belgium

The Corsendonk Priory Hotel is located near the Dutch border, 28 miles east of Antwerp, 56 miles northeast of Brussels Airport, 25 miles west of Eindhoven, and a few minutes from the E34 highway. The Corsendonk Priory offers a tranquil and hospitable haven, achieving the right balance between the centuries of old priory and modern comfort. The hotel offers state-of-the-art conference facilities for groups as well as a charming locale for special events.

The cost to attend includes the entire workshop, lodging for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, plus meals starting with Monday night dinner-Thursday Lunch. Because this is an inclusive price of lodging, meals and registration, we do not offer discounts. This is a tremendous value for this event and we hope to see you there.

2012 Keynote and Invited Talks

Keynote
Game Changing Technologies in Health Care
Jo De Boeck, imec

Summary:
Personalized, preventive, predictive, and participatory (PPPP) health care is on the horizon. Many nano-electronic research groups have entered the quest for more efficient health care in their mission statement. Ambulatory monitoring of so-called 'markers' for wellness and health is one of such proposed solutions. The prospect of personal diagnostics and therapy assisting solutions in e.g., the cardiac, neurological, and oncology field could indeed stir a – desperately needed – revolution. The talk will address some of the exciting trends in 'PPPP' health care and relate them to innovation in process technology, electronic circuits and system concepts.

Invited Talk 1
Advancing CMOS Beyond the Si Roadmap: Chronicle of a (R)evolution Foretold
Marc Heyns, imec, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Summary:
Over the last years many new materials have been introduced in advanced CMOS processes in order to continue to progress along the scaling roadmap. Replacing the SiO2/poly-Si stack with deposited high-k gate dielectrics and metal gates was a major challenge in this respect. In the near future, even bigger hurdles have to be overcome that will take us beyond the Si roadmap by introducing high mobility channel materials. Materials such as Ge and III/V compounds are used to meet the power and performance specifications of advanced CMOS technologies. This will go together with the introduction of new device concepts such as implant-free quantum well devices that fully exploit the unique properties of these materials. Tunnel-FETs, where the III/V material may be either introduced only in the source or in the complete device, can provide superior performance at lower power consumption by virtue of their improved subthreshold behavior. Vertical surround gate devices can be produced from III/V nanowires directly grown on silicon, allowing the introduction of a wide range of III/V materials and functionalities on Si. The introduction of new materials and devices also generate exciting possibilities for extended functionalities and new memory concepts.

Invited Talk 2
Smart Power Technology on SOI
Piet Wessels, NXP Semiconductors

Summary:
Smart power technologies are widely used in semiconductors. The technologies are derived from baseline cmos technologies. Most recent smart power technologies are built on 140nm cmos. With the help of extra mask-layers, high voltage devices can be built up to 100V or 200V. These technologies are being used for power applications like LED control ICs, audio amplifiers, power management units, automotive transceivers, etc. The high voltage transistors support external drive, for example for LEDs. The digital transistors help by adding more functionality. NXP has built smart power technologies on SOI. The SOI enables full electrical isolation of individual devices. Besides robustness improvement, this also improves functionality, for example in EMC for transceivers (in automotive) and THB in audio amplifiers. The full electrical isolation also enables the integration of minority carrier devices like LIGBTs.

Invited Talk 3
ESDA Advanced Topic Ad-Hoc Working Group on Electrical Overstress EOS
Jean-Luc Lefebvre, Presto Engineering

Summary:
Electrical overstress (EOS) is a major cause of IC failure in manufacturing and in the field. Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) is a subset of EOS which has received significant attention in both factory control and designed-in protection. However, the remaining forms of EOS have not been as systemically studied in spite of continued IC failure. ESDA has convened an ad-hoc working group of 11 members from 9 companies with the goal of publishing an advanced Technical Report on EOS in September 2012. This document would point to future work and efforts needed by the industry as well as provide a resource to discuss and clarify the EOS issues. The scope of the work for this TR is:
a) Clarification of EOS definitions and allied topics such as absolute maximum ratings (AMR), safe operating area (SOA) and electromagnetic interference (EMI).
b) Reporting the state of the art in EOS abatement.
c) Providing an overall categorizing framework within which to understand the various EOS threats within the manufacturing and product life-cycle.
d) Suggesting a way forward in both research and standards development to better protect against EOS.

Invited Talk 4
System Level EMC/ESD Design– Challenges and Opportunities
Pasi Tamminen, NOKIA Corporation

Summary:
The trend of smaller and more clever electronic products has always put pressure on EMC/ESD design. However, the worst scenarios with EMC/ESD challenges haven't been realized and the current products with GHz range frequencies and multiple functions still work pretty well. As the trend continues, the shrinking IC devices, lower operation voltages and especially the changing economic environment will challenge designers trying to create EMC/ESD robust products. In this presentation I will give a few examples, to show some limitations and opportunities consumer electronics manufacturing will see in the near future.