Research News

Toshiba Corporation announced that it has achieved breakthroughs in three major basic technologies for 32nm generation system LSIs and beyond. The advances are a major advance in metal gate electrode; a new structure and process technology for low resistance contacts that reduce contact resistance; and a technology for improving performance by changing the surface orientation of the silicon substrate.
The new breakthrough will pave the way to 32nm LSIs and improve process efficiencies.

Toshiba Corporation announced that it has developed a new double tunneling layer technology applicable to future 10nm generation flash memories. This elemental technology opens the way for memory devices with densities of over 100 gigabits in the 10nm generation, which lies four generations ahead.

Toshiba Corporation today announced important breakthroughs in key technologies for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), a promising, next-generation semiconductor memory device. The company has successfully fabricated a MRAM memory cell integrating the new technologies and verified its stable performance.

Toshiba has developed a new antenna for millimeter-wave wireless communication aimed at high-speed, large-volume communication over short distances such as in indoor settings. The antenna has a unique loop structure for which a conventional wire bonding process is used. This allows the antenna to be built into the IC package and gives it high radiation efficiency.

Toshiba has successfully achieved quantum bit operation for a "one-qubit gate", a basic structure of a quantum computation, in ions in a solid (Pr³⁺ ions in a solid-state electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) medium) where quantum-mechanical superposition states persist. Also, we demonstrated coupling of qubits to a cavity mode, which is necessary for realization of a "two-qubit gate", another basic structure of a quantum computation. By combining these two types of gate, which correspond to "NOT" and "AND" of current computers, a universal gate can be configured that enables any type of computing operation. Thus, great progress has been achieved toward realization of a quantum computer using solid-state components with which the number of qubits can be increased, thereby enabling computing that is in practice impossible in the case of computers based on the conventional principle.

Toshiba Corporation announced new technology that opens the way to manufacturing powerful ICs for the millimeter-waveband. The new fabrication process uses a low-cost CMOS process to achieve high-speed, highly-integrated wireless communications over short distances, and will support development of consumer applications.

Toshiba has newly developed double-scanning multi-field driving technology (DS-MFD technology),which makes possible reductions of up to about 30% in power consumption in XGA resolution 14-inch LCDs even for moving images. DS-MFD technology is based on a Toshiba proprietary multi-field driving technology (MFD technology) for detecting still images and moving images and switching drive systems between an interlace drive that scans the signal of every other row of the scanning line and reduces the frequency while maintatining image quality for still images and a noninterlace drive for moving images.
With this technology, at the time of moving image display we implemented a display method similar to that of an interlace drive, but as moving images lose their smoothness when the signal is interlaced (every other line is scanned), we succeeded in reducing frequency while maintaining image quality by simultaneously displaying the odd line signal on the scanning line pairs of the current odd line and the next even line, and in the next field similarly simultaneously displaying the even line signal on the different scanning line pairs of the current even line and the next odd line. In this way, we realize power reduction of up to about 30% for moving images,making possible long run time even when playing DVDs on laptop PCs or viewing one-segment broadcasts on mobile devices.

Toshiba has developed a technology that makes possible high-speed, high-quality random number generation based on downscaling silicon device The use of SiN (silicon nitride) MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) as a new random number source yields an extremely large amount of random noise and realizes circuit miniaturization and high-quality random noise generation. The device achieves a noise generation rate of 0.3 MHz, a result closer to a highly versatile generation rate of the order of 1 MHz than previously achieved.

Toshiba Corporation announced that it has achieved a breakthrough in imaging electron-carrier paths and impurities in semiconductors that allows analysis at the 1-nanometer (nm) level for the first time. This major advance, based on scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) is an essential step toward achieving LSI at the 45nm generation and beyond.

Cambridge, UK: Toshiba Research Europe Ltd announced that it has developed two new technologies to realize ‘unconditionally secure’ quantum key distribution (QKD). To achieve this, Toshiba has overcome a potential security loophole in current commercial QKD systems.