The University of Rochester's Center for Electronic Imaging Systems (CEIS) has received $1 million from the state of New York to help develop technology in the Rochester area that focuses on shrinking computer circuits beyond the microelectronics scale to the nanoelectronics scale. Such size reduction would cement Rochester's place as one of the world leaders in high-performance digital camera and imaging systems.
"These awards will support the world-class innovation being done by some of the best young minds at New York's colleges and universities and will complement our other high-tech economic development initiatives such as our Centers of Excellence program," Gov. George Pataki said. "This funding will further secure New York's role as an international leader in high-tech and biotechnology research and economic development."
Current research in microelectronics design technologies is focused on placing millions of transistors on a common substrate to implement a large variety of digital and analog functions. As transistors are reduced in scale from micrometers to nanometers, complexity moves from millions of transistors on a chip to billions, and operating speeds increase from a gigahertz to tens of gigahertz.
Members of CEIS expect that products and technologies that exist today as electronic imaging systems will exhibit explosive commercial growth when combined with micro and nanoelectronic integrated circuits (ICs). These ICs will incorporate nano and optoelectronic features such as electrical and photonic pathways and interfaces to increase computational bandwidth, reduce susceptibility to interference, and lower power consumption while reducing cost in such consumer applications as computers, game devices, home entertainments systems, and communications devices. Complete camera systems on single ICs will enable revolutionary low-cost imaging devices for security, medical imaging, sports, and automotive equipment.
The award, given by the New York State Office of Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), recognizes CEIS as a nationally significant and growing center for micro and nanoelectronics design for imaging systems and augments research efforts over the next three years by reaching out across the state to further develop technologies and expertise through networking, education, and training.
For more information about CEIS and the Nanoelectric Design of Electronic Imaging Systems program, contact Eby G. Friedman, CEIS director, at (585) 275-1022.