Imec expands strategic partnership with Western Digital

Imec, the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technology, today announced that it has expanded its long-term joint research efforts with Western Digital Corporation, a global leader in data storage technologies and solutions. Under a new agreement, imec and Western Digital will collaborate in research and development of a broad range of advanced semiconductor technologies.

Imec’s industrial affiliation programs represent the industry’s largest partner ecosystem, delivering product-relevant funneling and concrete solutions for next-generation logic and memory devices, in an open innovation mode. Through the three-year agreement, Western Digital becomes a full partner imec’s ‘core’ programs in advanced semiconductor technology, comprising of R&D in the field of next-generation logic and memory devices, advanced patterning, and advanced nano- and system interconnect technologies.

The agreement builds on imec’s six-year relationship with Western Digital through which the two have collaborated on emerging memories, NAND flash memory technology and advanced patterning.

“Having Western Digital, a world leader in data storage technology, as as a full core partner brings unique and valuable knowledge to our research,” stated Luc Van den hove, president and CEO at imec. “The new three-year agreement confirms the industrial value and impact our R&D programs have on advanced semiconductor scaling. Through such strategic partnerships, we can continue to collectively tackle the scaling challenges posed by today’s fast-evolving, equipment-intensive, consolidating semiconductor landscape, thereby offering our partners the industry’s most advanced research infrastructure.”

“Imec’s unique research capabilities and deep ecosystem engagement sets them apart in the world semiconductor innovation,” said Dr. Siva Sivaram, executive vice president of memory technology at Western Digital. “Our collaborative work furthers Western Digital’s ability to expand the potential of current memory technologies as well as explore the promise of future, advanced semiconductor materials and processes that may hold the key to managing the data revolution.”