Samsung's semiconductor division ties up with IISc for R&D on safeguarding computing chips

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) has been a major cause for concern in the computing chip industry, as it causes unexpected destruction of semiconductor devices. The ESD phenomenon is a high-current and short-duration event caused by the transfer of electrostatic charge between two surfaces or bodies. It can happen due to human handling of chips and even robotic handling of chips. It is to develop ESD protection that South Korean Electronics giant Samsung's semiconductor arm and the Indian Institute of Science have joined hands.

The partnership seeks to build cutting-edge ESD device solutions to protect ultra-high-speed serial interfaces in advanced Integrated Circuits (ICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) products. An integrated circuit refers to a circuit compressed into a small-sized chip, whereas a system-on-chip has computer-like capabilities and can run an operating system.The related research will be carried out by ProfessorMayank Shrivastava’s group at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE), IISc. Solutions arising from this research will be deployed in Samsung’s advanced process nodes, said the company.

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The research agreement was exchanged by Balajee Sowrirajan, CVP & MD at Samsung Semiconductor India Research, Bengaluru, and Prof Govindan Rangarajan, Director, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in the presence of delegates from Samsung and IISc. "Our goal is also to increase capacity building through training programmes at the postgraduate level, opening up opportunities for students to pursue industry internships, and encourage entrepreneurial ventures by young researchers,"said Balajee Sowrirajan, CVP & MD, SSIR.

ICs and SoCs are essential for any electronic system, large or small. However,they are very susceptible to ESD failures, especially those developed using advanced nanoscale CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technologies. The majority of IC chip failures and field returns are attributed to ESD failures. This is also rare expertise and industries holding the art of designing ESD protection devices and interface concepts lead the market. Thus, R&D in ESD technology for highly reliable interfaces and SoCs that operate at low power and high speed is an integral part of the semiconductor innovation effort. IISc is one of the few institutes in the world leading ESD device research.

"We have been collaborating extensively with semiconductor industries worldwide on advanced nanoelectronics technologies, including solutions to ESD reliability threats to advanced SoCs. We have carried out both fundamental and applied research on ESD protection devices, with a strong emphasis on creating practical solutions for the semiconductor industry in a range of technology nodes,” said Mayank, who heads the MSDLab, and will be leading this collaborative effort.

Samsung Semiconductor India Research, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, is the technology hub enabling innovative growth in both hardware development as well as software-powered solutions in semiconductor technologies.

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