JMAR Signs Supply and
Manufacturing Agreement With 1st
Silicon Corp.
New Malaysian Foundry to Produce Proprietary JMAR Chips Using 0.25
micron and 0.18 micron CMOS Logic and Mixed Signal Processes
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2001-- JMAR Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq
NM:JMAR - news), a provider of microtechnology products for the microelectronics industry,
Thursday announced that its JMAR Semiconductor Inc. (JSI) fabless semiconductor division has
signed a three year supply and manufacturing agreement with 1st Silicon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., a
recently established foundry located in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Under the agreement, 1st Silicon will manufacture to JSI's proprietary design specifications up to
four hundred, 8-inch semiconductor wafers per month using its 0.25 micron and 0.18 micron
CMOS logic and mixed signal processes. Depending upon the specific product designs, each wafer
could contain up to several thousand individual semiconductor chips with selling prices to the end
users ranging from less than $10 up to several hundred dollars, each.
1st Silicon is a dedicated semiconductor foundry established in 1998 by the Malaysian State of
Sarawak. 1st Silicon's 200mm wafer fab, with a planned capacity in excess of 30,000 wafers per
month, commenced operations in the third quarter of 2000. The facility initiated production with 0.25
micron digital and mixed signal CMOS technology and plans to produce geometries of 0.18 micron
and below within the near future. SHARP Electronics Corp. of Japan has contributed substantial
technology to the 1st Silicon foundry operation as 1st Silicon's technology partner and its first
customer. 1st Silicon has its headquarters in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, and has a U.S.-registered
subsidiary corporation located in San Jose, Calif. Its homepage is www.1stsilicon.com.
Marvin W. Sepe, president of JSI, commented, ``We are very pleased to be one of the earliest
customers to sign-on with 1st Silicon as they extend the capability of their new foundry to higher
performance microcircuits with ever-smaller dimensions. Initially, our products will be produced by
1st Silicon's 0.25 micron process. 1st Silicon anticipates its 0.18 micron process will come on-line in
Q4 2001. When that occurs we plan to transition our higher-speed products to that smaller feature
size process. The availability of 1st Silicon's leading-edge fabrication capacity provides JMAR with a
solid basis for the continuing development and production of its broad line of advanced proprietary
semiconductors for the telecommunications industry.''
Sepe continued, ``Under the agreement, our two companies will establish a secure electronic
data-link and network to expedite data transfer between us. JSI will also gain access to the
advanced semiconductor design libraries prepared by 1st Silicon. These libraries provide the format
to manufacture JSI's chip designs using 1st Silicon's process.''
Under the terms of the agreement, in accordance with standard industry practice, JSI will procure
and provide to 1st Silicon the production mask sets for each JSI semiconductor design. The masks
are templates containing circuit design features that are optically projected, lithographically, onto
photoresists deposited on the surface of the wafers. 1st Silicon will use JSI's designs and other
proprietary information solely for the purpose of providing the specific semiconductor products and
will not disclose or sublicense that information to any other party.
John S. Martinez, Ph.D., JMAR's chairman and CEO commented, ``We are delighted with this new
working relationship with 1st Silicon and look forward to a long and mutually profitable relationship
with them.
``The cyclical nature of the semiconductor market creates inherent fluctuations in the availability of
foundry space, worldwide. During boom times it is often difficult for small volume producers, like
JMAR, to gain adequate access or foundry management attention to assure that production needs
are accommodated in a timely, high quality manner.''
He continued, ``With this agreement, JMAR Semiconductor Inc. has secured, for the next three
years, guaranteed production capacity at 1st Silicon for up to 400 wafers per month using the 0.25
micron process now, and their 0.18 micron process expected to be available later this year. We
look for this assured product availability to help maintain an adequate flow of semiconductor chips
through our pipeline during periods of peak demand as well as at other times.''
He concluded, ``As our penetration of the telecommunications semiconductor market progresses
from JSI's initial product introductions in the Communications Memory area, to a broad range of
high-value Local Area Network (LAN) chips, and then to the very high-value switches and
processors for the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Optical Network markets, our wafer
requirements could increase substantially. It is our expectation that as that occurs we will be able to
expand our guaranteed number of wafers from 1st Silicon.''
JMAR Technologies Inc., a semiconductor industry-focused company, is a fabless provider of high
performance integrated circuits for the rapidly growing broadband telecommunications market and
other microelectronics applications. It is also a leading developer of proprietary advanced laser and
X-ray light sources for high-value microelectronics manufacturing and metrology. In addition, JMAR
manufactures precision measurement, positioning and light-based manufacturing systems for
inspection and repair of semiconductors and continues to play an important role in adapting its
precision semiconductor manufacturing technology to the fabrication of advanced biomedical and
optical communications products.
The statements regarding JMAR's expectations for the successful development and introduction of
new semiconductor products and future sales and potential business opportunities are
forward-looking statements based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements. These risks include the failure of future orders to materialize as expected, delays in
production, testing and shipment of semiconductor chips, cancellation of orders, failure of
acceptance of new products, failure of advanced technology and new intellectual property to
perform as predicted and the other risks detailed in the company's Form 8-K filed on Feb. 15,
2000, its 1999 Form 10-K and other reports filed with the SEC.
Contact:
JMAR Technologies Inc., San Diego
Dennis E. Valentine, 760/602-3292
jmar.com |
