Samsung has licensed a patent covering the use of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) in semiconductor devices from the University of Illinois. The company plans to use the technology as a solution to hot-carrier effects, which are known to cause problems with chip reliability.
Under the terms of the agreement Samsung will be able to use the university's patented technology for semiconductor devices through the lifetime of the patents. However, it was not disclosed whether Samsung has paid money to the university.
The university owns five U.S. and one South Korean patent covering the use of deuterium in semiconductor devices. The named inventors on the university's Deuterium patents are Joseph Lyding, Karl Hess and Jinju Lee.
