"The NEXT Intel"-ISON and the Patented Isotopically Pure Silicon Wafer
Wednesday January 21, 7:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Isonics Corporation
Isonics Corporation Announces New Isotopically Pure
Silicon-28 Epitaxial Wafer
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Isonics Corporation (OTC : ISON - news)
announced the introduction of an advanced silicon wafer with improved thermal conductivity for the
semiconductor industry.
The Company believes that the improved thermal characteristics of these wafers, composed of a
single isotope of silicon, Silicon-28, will facilitate the manufacture of higher density integrated circuits
resulting in increased performance, improved chip yields, and shorter time-to-market for new
designs. The elegance of isotopically pure Silicon-28 is that while it has better thermal properties
than standard silicon, it can be used without any changes in existing silicon semiconductor
manufacturing processes. At present the Company is identifying potential development partners to
aid in evaluating this advanced material in a spectrum of applications.
Isonics President and CEO, James E. Alexander stated, ''While Silicon-28 has been shown
superior in certain thermal conductivity tests, we have not yet identified the full range and magnitude
of benefits that isotopically pure Silicon-28 may ultimately provide the semiconductor industry. We
anticipate that the benefits will be very application specific. Semiconductors today are so complex
that the benefits of our Silicon-28 cannot be analyzed in advance. Instead, they must be proven by
manufacturing existing products using our new Silicon-28 wafers and then comparing the results to
standard wafers.
''We believe there are substantial benefits for current applications, but we also expect that the
properties of our improved silicon will become critically important as the industry transitions to
12-inch wafers, copper interconnects and 0.18 micron design rules.''
Tests have shown that isotopically pure Silicon-28 has greater than 50 percent better thermal
conductivity than natural silicon. The manufacture of these ultra-pure wafers involves growing an
isotopically pure Silicon-28 epitaxial layer on a standard silicon single-crystal wafer. Silicon-28
epitaxial wafers are currently available in 4, 5, 6 and 8-inch diameters with n-type or p-type doping
to customer specifications in quantities sufficient for prototype runs.
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. |
