GRENOBLE, France -- CEA-Leti announced that it is has opened a complete 300 mm fab extension, dedicated to 3D-integration applications. Final equipment installations will continue through to the end of this year, with an inauguration event planned in January, 2011.

The integration line includes lithography, metallization, deep etching, dielectric deposition, wet etching, and packaging tools that will be available for Leti's customers and partners around the world.

The line will complement Leti's 3D-integration toolbox, which already includes through-silicon vias, alignment, bonding, grinding, thinning, planarization, bumping, micro-inserts and design capabilities, and mixed-signal IC applications.

"Leti is recognized as a key player in 3D integration R&D, and this new line is a vital addition to our continuously expanding 3D capabilities," said Laurent Malier, CEO of Leti. "It also will enable us to offer heterogeneous integration technologies to customers on 200 mm and 300 mm wafers."

About CEA-Leti
CEA is a French research and technology public organization, with activities in four main areas: energy, information technologies, healthcare technologies, and defense and security. Within CEA, the Laboratory for Electronics & Information Technology (CEA-Leti) works with companies to increase their competitiveness through technological innovation and transfers. CEA-Leti is focused on micro and nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems to biology and healthcare or photonics. Nanoelectronics and microsystems (MEMS) are at the core of its activities. As a major player in MINATEC campus, CEA-Leti operates 8,000 m state-of-the-art clean rooms, on 24/7 mode, on 200 mm and 300 mm wafer standards. With 1,200 employees, CEA-Leti trains more than 150 Ph.D. students and hosts 200 assignees from partner companies. Strongly committed to the creation of value for the industry, CEA-Leti puts a strong emphasis on intellectual property and owns more than 1,500 patent families.