AmberWave Systems Corporation Announces Strained-Silicon-on-Insulator Breakthrough.SALEM, N.H. -- AmberWave Systems Corporation, the semiconductor industry's leading developer of strained silicon technology, today announced a breakthrough in strained silicon on insulator (SSOI sSOI Strained Silicon-On-Insulator (semiconductor wafers) SSOI Summary Statement of Intent SSOI Summary Statement Of Interest ) quality and manufacturability. Low manufacturing costs and high quality substrates are qualities that have historically been at odds--AmberWave Systems' breakthrough improves both simultaneously. Counterintuitively coun·ter·in·tu·i·tive adj. Contrary to what intuition or common sense would indicate: "Scientists made clear what may at first seem counterintuitive, that the capacity to be pleasant toward a fellow creature is ... , AmberWave significantly improved the end quality of the SSOI substrate by starting with a silicon substrate intentionally laden with "threading" defects. The presence of these initial "threading" defects - generally acceptable in limited numbers - reduces both the number of "threading" defects in the final substrate by one order of magnitude A change in quantity or volume as measured by the decimal point. For example, from tens to hundreds is one order of magnitude. Tens to thousands is two orders of magnitude; tens to millions is three orders of magnitude, etc. and "dislocation pileups" in the final substrate by as much as three orders of magnitude. Dislocation pileups are a different type of defect which, in contrast to threading defects, are significant impediments to device performance and yield. AmberWaves' ability to eliminate dislocation pileups therefore marks a radical advancement in the quality of SSOI substrates. In addition to the quality improvement, this breakthrough also can be accomplished with a thinner strained silicon substrate, thereby significantly reducing growth time--the largest factor in fabrication expense. AmberWave's research demonstrated growth times of less than five minutes per wafer. This advancement furthers the industry's belief that wafer-scale strained silicon technology will continue to offer the semiconductor industry additional generations of strained silicon enhancement beyond those currently in production today. The research is the result of collaboration between Dr. Matthew Erdtmann and Dr. Matthew Currie of AmberWave and David Black and Joseph Woicik from the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of "working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards" in the national interest. (NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. ). Their findings will be presented on December 1 at the 2005 Materials Research Society (MRS MRS - Modifiable Representation System. An integration of logic programming into Lisp. ["A Modifiable Representation System", M. Genesereth et al, HPP 80-22, CS Dept Stanford U 1980]. ) Fall Meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts from November 28 - December 2, 2005. Dr. Erdtmann will also chair the MRS Meeting Session 12 focusing on "Progress in Semiconductor Materials V - Novel Materials and Electronic and Optoelectronic Applications." About AmberWave AmberWave Systems Corporation (http://www.amberwave.com) leads the semiconductor industry in developing and licensing intellectual property critical to the technology for manufacturing strained silicon and other advanced semiconductor materials and semiconductor devices. The Company's strained silicon technology incorporates more than 10 years of research from MIT MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology , AT&T Bell Labs, and ongoing research at its own facilities in the next generation of semiconductor materials, including in the area of III-V compounds. AmberWave complements its underlying intellectual property portfolio by providing a range of technical support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services that enable IP licensees to rapidly convert the licensed technology to manufacturing processes. AmberWave, headquartered in Salem, NH, was named by Red Herring Red Herring A preliminary registration statement that must be filed with the SEC describing a new issue of stock (IPO) and the prospects of the issuing company. Notes: as one of the Top 100 Private Companies in North America for 2005. AmberWave, headquartered in Salem, NH, has raised over $66 million to date and was recently named one of the Red Herring Top 100 Private Companies in North America. |
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