A memorandum of understanding on joint integrated circuit and semiconductor technology development was concluded by leading Taiwan and French R&D institutions Oct. 19 in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County.
Under the pact, Taipei City-based National Applied Research Laboratories and Leti—a French government-funded research center—will expand exchanges in IC and semiconductor applications via initiatives such as experiment cooperation and short-term researcher exchange programs. It was inked during inaugural Leti Day Taiwan, a platform aimed at strengthening ties between the two sides in related fields and fifth-generation wireless technology.
NARLabs Vice President Wu Kuang-chong said the National Chip Implementation Center and National Nano Device Laboratories under NARLabs have worked closely with Leti since last year. One example of this synergy is researchers from both organizations sharing knowledge and best practices at Leti Innovation Days July 4-5 in France, he added.
According to Wu, topics broached at the flagship event spanned an array of cutting-edge fields like silicon photonics, an evolving technology in which data is transferred among computer chips by optical rays instead of electrical conductors.
The memorandum springboards off this strong foundation of collaboration, Wu said, enabling the organizations to advance IC technology in response to the requirements of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence and Internet of Things sectors.
Overseen by the Ministry of Science and Technology, NARLabs was founded in 2003 with the goal of raising Taiwan’s proficiency in key science and technology fields encompassing earthquake engineering, nanotechnology, semiconductors and supercomputers.
NARLabs administers 10 national-level centers including Hsinchu City-headquartered National Space Organization, which launched Taiwan’s first indigenously produced ultra-high resolution Earth observation satellite Formosat-5 in 2017. (CPY-E)
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