Does anyone know how far along the development cycle this is?
Is this a viable alternative to the stuff they use now?
___________________________________________________________________
First Testing of Silicon-28 Devices to Commence;
Isonics Corporation Delivers Isotopically Pure Silicon-28 Wafers to AMD For Testing
GOLDEN, Colo., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Isonics Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: ISON - news) today announced the first delivery of isotopically pure silicon-28 epitaxial wafers to Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - news). According to the announcement by Isonics President and CEO James E. Alexander, these special wafers will be tested to determine the impact of silicon-28 on device performance. In addition to performance testing, evaluation of overall chip yield and speed sorting will be performed and compared to normal silicon epitaxial wafers.
Isonics Vice President, Semiconductor Materials Dr. Stephen Burden remarked, ''This is a major milestone for Isonics. We have taken the technology out of the laboratory and it will be evaluated in a production setting for the first time. This work will go a long way in determining whether the industry can take immediate advantage of the properties of silicon-28 in this generation of products.''
Laboratory tests have shown that isotopically pure silicon-28 has 50 percent higher thermal conductivity than natural silicon. Isonics believes that the improved thermal conductivity of silicon-28 will facilitate the manufacture of higher density integrated circuits resulting in increased performance and improved chip yields. These benefits might be of particular importance in small runs of custom chips and in situations where time to market is of utmost importance. The attractiveness of silicon-28 is that while it has improved properties over standard silicon, it can be used without any changes in existing semiconductor manufacturing processes.
On April 12, Isonics announced that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Yale University that entitles the Company to exclusive intellectual property rights to patents covering semiconductor devices derived from isotopically engineered materials. These patents cover silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide and most other isotopically pure semiconductors and are the basis for Isonics' silicon-28 wafer development and commercialization.
Isonics is an advanced materials and technology company which develops and commercializes products based on enriched stable isotopes. Stable isotopes can be thought of as ultra-ultra pure materials. This high degree of purification provides enhanced performance properties compared to normal materials. Stable isotopes have commercial uses in several areas, including energy; research, medical diagnostics, and drug development; product tagging and stewardship; semiconductors; lasers; and optical materials. For more information on silicon-28 and other Isonics products, please visit the Isonics web site at www.isonics.com.
biz.yahoo.com
___________________________________________________________________ |
