Istitute

The Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) has its Headquarters in Catania and is organized in 6 Sections located  in Agrate Brianza, Bologna, Rome, Lecce and Catania.

IMM counts 195 people as permanent staff (117 Researchers) plus temporary staff including 47 post-Docs and 61 Ph.D. students.

IMM activities span from material science and process development to device fabrication and system integration, thanks to the micro-nanofabrication facilities present at the different sites (clean-room areas totaling >1400 m²). The research activities have been recently re-organized and are focused on three main application areas: Micro/Nanoelectronics, Functional materials and devices, Photonics. In addition, the competences and the facilities are coordinated into four main technological areas, Micro/Nanofabrication, Characterization, Theoretical modelling and Synthesis of advanced materials, which provide transversal support to the application areas. A scheme of the “matrix” organization is reported below, showing also the working groups associated to the application areas.

IMM, through a number of European Projects, collaborates with prestigious International research institutions (CEA-LETI, IMEC, ESRF, CNM, CNRS) and with many semiconductor industries: STMicroelectronics (ST), Micron, Philips, SILVACO, AMD, Tower Semiconductor and Siemens. Particularly effective is the collaboration with STMicroelectronics, with two IMM Sections embedded in ST plants in Catania and Agrate Brianza, allowing the successful development of public-private initiatives. Furthermore, IMM has a close collaboration with many Universities (one of its Section being located within the Physics Dept. of the University of Catania) and also carries out an important role in the formation, coordinating many PhD and graduate student activities. As a result, IMM effectively bridges the Academic Institution research activities with the Industrial applications.

IMM has an annual operating budget, averaged over the last three fiscal years, around €24 million, including €9.8 million of personnel costs and €1.4 million of running costs supported by CNR and €12.8 million arising from European Regional Development Funds, European, International, National projects and Industrial research contracts. Scientific results are presented to many International Conferences and around 250 articles are published by IMM researchers on JCR journals every year.

Director

Vittorio PRIVITERA is  Director of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM-CNR) since July 2020. He has been Research Director at the Italian National Council of Research (Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems, CNR) and Section Head of the IMM Catania (University) Unit. His current research is focused on the application of functional nanomaterials to water purification. He was a  member of the project management committee of several European Projects (ENDEASD, FRENDTECH, IMPULSE) in the field of nanomaterials and nanoelectronics. He was the Coordinator of the European project “Fundamentals and applications of laser processing for highly innovative MOS technology” (FLASH) and of several national projects. More recently, he has been the Coordinator of the European Coordination Action “Winning Applications of nano Technology for Resolutive hydropurification” (WATER), granted with 4 M€ to the IMM Catania (University) Unit within the VII FP. He is author of 225 publications in international scientific journals, delivered several invited talks at international conferences, won 4 awards at national and international conferences and chaired three international conferences (E-MRS Symposium 2001, IEEE-RTP 2007, IEEE-NMDC 2014). He was a member of the Doctoral Examination Committee at the University of Oslo (Norway) and at the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands), and is project evaluator of H2020.