Semi-Conductor Laboratory

The Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali (SCL) is a research institute of the Department of Space, Government of India. Its aims include research and development in the field of semiconductor technology.

SCL had its origin as the Semiconductor Complex Limited, a public sector undertaking of the Government of India. It came under the administrative control of Department of Space in March 2005 and has since undergone organisational restructuring to become focused on research and development. The society was registered in November 2005.

SCL is a society under the Department of Space with the main objective to undertake, aid, promote, guide and coordinate the R&D in the field of semiconductor technology, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and process technologies relating to semiconductor processing in the existing 6" wafer fab. SCL has over the years developed and supplied a number of key VLSIs, majority of which have been Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for high reliability applications in industrial and space sectors. Steps have been initiated to upgrade the facilities to fabricate devices in 0.25 micron or better technology.

The Semi-Conductor Laboratory is responsible for design and development of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) devices and development of systems for telecommunication and space sectors. SCL has facilities for fabrication of micro-electronic devices in 0.8 micrometre range and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. Facilities to fabricate advanced devices in 0.35 micrometre range are planned.

SCL, through its in-house R&D efforts has developed 3 micron, 2 micron, 1.2 micron and 0.8 micron CMOS technologies as well specialized technologies such as EEPROM and CCD. SCL has over the years developed and supplied a number of key VLSIs, majority of which have been ASICs for high reliability and industrial applications.

Fab upgrade

The Department of Space (DoS) planned to upgrade SCL to produce chips of 0.25 micrometer size from the current 0.8 micrometres. In 2006, IBM won a competition with another US-based firm, Atmel Corp., to handle a nearly Rs 5,000,000,000 contract to upgrade SCL. IBM backed out of the deal in 2008 citing concerns of dual-use technologies. DoS planned to upgrade the fab on its own after IBM backed out of the deal. In 2010, SCL was undergoing an upgrade to produce chips of 0.18 micrometres from Tower Semiconductor, Israel.