The French Atomic Energy Commission has signed a four-year R&D contract with the three partners of the Crolles2 Alliance - STMicroelectronics, Philips and Freescale Semiconductor - to jointly develop nanoelectronic technologies for 45nm, 32nm and below CMOS nodes on 300mm wafers.

The French commission, known as CEA, will use its CEA-Leti branch to carry out the research in a new 300mm facility in Grenoble, France, called Nanotec 300, which was inaugurated yesterday.

CEA said research activities will cover four areas: advanced patterning; front-end materials and process steps; advanced devices; and back-end materials and process steps.

The programmes will be carried out in conjunction with the existing relationships between the three Crolles2 Alliance members and their research partners, including IMEC in Leuven, Belgium, and the Dan Noble Center in Austin.

This agreement is an extension of the previous CMOS research program on 200mm wafers between CEA-Leti and ST in the Grenoble area.