France to devote $833 million to nanoelectronics, says report

PARIS — In a visit to Minalogic competitiveness cluster dedicated to micro, nanotechnologies and embedded software in Grenoble, France, Prime Minister François Fillon announced the French Government would provide a 565 million euro (about $833 million) subsidy, over a period of five years, to support nanoelectronics, according to Reuters.

"Two-third of this sum [565 million euros] will be dedicated to the development of the Crolles3 program," specified Fillon. "Discussions with local authorities to define methods of funding should be finalized in the next few days."

The remaining one-third will be dedicated to competitiveness clusters, notably in Caen and in the Region of Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur, added Fillon.

In July, France announced it had agreed to provide subsidies to the "Nano 2012" strategic investment program, commonly called "Crolles3", an alliance between STMicroelectronics NV, IBM Corp. and the CEA. The amount of the subsidies then remained to be determined.

The Nano 2012 strategic investment program, stated its initiators, aims to provide competitive access to microelectronics systems, to develop derivative technologies and to enhance the area's competitive edge, especially with regard to Southeast Asia. The program has been defined by STMicroelectronics, IBM, CEA and local authorities.

A total of 3.4 billion euros was invested in Grenoble-Isère over the 1992-2007 period, as part of the Crolles Alliance program.

The Crolles2 Alliance was formed in 2000 and renewed in 2002 when Freescale (then Motorola) joined the existing alliance of STMicroelectronics and NXP (then Philips Semiconductors) to create and manufacture future-generation technologies and System-on-Chip solutions more quickly and more cost-effectively. TSMC joined the Alliance in 2001 as an associated partner.