Atomera Incorporated (Nasdaq: ATOM), a semiconductor materials and technology licensing company, today announced it has entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with a leading semiconductor provider for integration of Atomera’s Mears Silicon Technology (MST) into their silicon fabrication process. The JDA includes a manufacturing license allowing the customer to fabricate semiconductor wafers incorporating MST for use in their products. Atomera’s MST is a patented, quantum-engineered material that enhances transistors to deliver significantly better performance in today’s electronics.
“Atomera is thrilled to join with an industry leader that has a strong record of technology innovation to extend Moore’s Law,” said Scott Bibaud, president and CEO, Atomera. “During this JDA, we will work together to prove the technical and economic advantage of adopting MST across multiple process technologies and business units within our partner company. This agreement aligns well with our long-standing mission to collaborate with leaders in the industry to extend the life of existing manufacturing processes and accelerate adoption of new technologies, through development of our cutting-edge materials.”
This latest agreement is part of Atomera’s effort to develop deeper and more strategic relationships with selected customers through JDAs – an agreement format that is well suited to large customers who have multiple production nodes, process technologies and product divisions, ultimately leading to deeper customer penetration, faster integration, and quicker adoption across product lines. The agreement will generate revenue for Atomera this year.
MST Extends the Life of Moore’s Law
Atomera’s MST helps semiconductor manufacturers squeeze additional benefits out of their current manufacturing technology. When successfully integrated, MST can deliver up to a full node of power and performance improvement within the same geometry allowing semiconductor makers to improve product profitability through increased prices or lower costs.
Atomera does this through patented techniques that enhance key transistor characteristics, enabling higher performance, lower power, and reduced variability. These improvements can enable new designs, both analog and digital, which may otherwise not be possible in existing process technologies. MST is a material technology proven to be complementary to other nano-scaling technologies in the semiconductor industry roadmap and can be implemented on standard manufacturing tools without significant additional cost or modification to the current semiconductor fabrication process.
