Altera joins 3D chips research project at Imec

Altera has signed a three-year research collaboration with Belgium-based semiconductor research centre, Imec.

The initial collaboration will focus on the development of 3-D process technologies targeting Altera’s product families.

"Our ongoing research and development efforts in 3-D stacked silicon technology are a natural evolution of our product development," said Misha Burich, senior v-p of research and development at Altera.

"The information we receive through imec’s advanced CMOS scaling program complements our own internal developments which provides us with valuable insight as we execute on our product roadmaps," said Burich.

It is part of imec’s INSITE programme, which involves a number of fables chip makers.

“This offering helps companies anticipate new technologies so that they get their products on the market fasterm,” said Luc van den Hove, president and CEO Imec.