FYI
Monday June 9 4:58 PM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: TMS Technologies
TMS Technologies Awarded DARPA Project for Development
of Ultrahigh Density Data Storage Using MEMS
ITHACA, N.Y., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- TMS Technologies, Inc. has been awarded a three-year,
multimillion dollar project by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the
development of a new generation of ultrahigh density data storage technology based on
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The new technology will be used to demonstrate a 1OGbyte
read only memory (ROM) packaged in a standard PCMCIA card, representing 20 times the data storage
density of a CD-ROM. Moreover, the technology demonstrated in this project will form the foundation
for future read/write data storage at 10Tbytes/cm2 -- an increase in density of more than 10,000 times
over current magnetic or optical storage devices.
``We are tremendously excited to have been selected by DARPA for this project, in what was a very
competitive process,'' said Gregory J. Galvin, Ph.D., president and CEO of TMS. ``This award not only
enables TMS to pursue development of a critical data storage technology with substantial market
opportunities, but also validates the advantages and commercial potential of the MEMS technology on
which this company was founded.''
The emergence of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) as a commercially viable technology now
makes possible the fabrication of such ultraminiature mechanical devices. In MEMS, conventional
microelectronic processing techniques are used to fabricate moving silicon structures -- mechanical
devices -- at dimensions measured in the microns. Utilizing a proprietary MEMS fabrication process, to
which TMS has an exclusive license, TMS can offer MEMS devices with superior performance and
lower manufacturing cost.
``MEMS has the potential to have as profound an impact on our society as the invention of the integrated
circuit,'' observed Dr. Galvin. ``Micromechanical devices are, or will soon be, found in automobile airbag
systems, wireless communications, ink jet printers, disposable blood analyzers, and many other products.
Worldwide MEMS sales are projected to be in the tens of billions of dollars within the next five years.''
Data storage at near atomic dimensions has been proposed ever since the invention of the Scanning
Tunneling Microscope (STM) more than a decade ago -- a device for which Gerd Binning and Heinrich
Rohrer of IBM were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Practical realization of this vision, however,
awaited the development of extremely small moving parts, beams, actuators, probes, and motors. Only
with mechanical devices on the scale of transistor circuits would it be possible to construct arrays of tens
of thousands of STM-type devices on a single silicon chip and thereby attain data storage at terabyte/cm2
densities with high data transfer rates.
Pioneering research at Cornell University demonstrated the ability of MEMS technology to produce
actuators capable of moving an STM tip in three dimensions. The Cornell device measured only 200
microns on a side and forms the basic building block for MEMS ultrahigh density data storage. Cornell
will serve as a subcontractor to TMS under the DARPA award.
``As one of the leading research universities in the country, we are committed to transferring our research
innovations into the private sector,'' said Norman R. Scott, vice president for research and advanced
studies at Cornell. ``The relationship between Cornell and TMS is a great example of this process at
work, to the benefit of the University, the company, and our local economy.''
TMS Technologies, a privately held corporation, is based in Ithaca, New York, and develops advanced
MEMS products for a variety of industries including automotive, defense, communications, and scientific
instruments.
SOURCE: TMS Technologies
Contact: Greg Galvin of TMS Technologies, 607-257-1525, or fax, 607-257-1612
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