ST licenses Atomera manufacturing technology eeNews Europe

STMicroelectronics NV (Geneva, Switzerland) has signed a license for Atomera’s MST technology to allow integration of MST technology into ICs and is the first of a three-phase licensing process with the next two being manufacturing and distribution phases.  Atomera was founded in 2001 by Robert Mears as Nanovis LLC to exploit nano-scale engineering of materials and was then called Mears Technologies before becoming Atomera in 2016. Mears had previously been the pioneer of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. Atomera's Mears Silicon Technology (MST) can enhance the performance of transistor channels. MST is typically used to deposit partial monolayers of oxygen on the silicon wafer surface. The introduction of these layers can be used to help enhance mobility and current flow in the x-y plane and reduce it in the z-direction which would typically be leakage current in transistors. This is the second customer in win in as many weeks for Atomera. Last week Atomera announced a licensing agreement with  Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM). Atomera claims that its quantum engineering can provide drive and effective current increases of 10 to 20 percent and improved mobility at high and low fields. These significant improvements in device performance and power efficiency can invigorate established semiconductor fabs by providing up to a full node of performance benefit to existing manufacturing processes. MST can be implemented using equipment already deployed in the wafer fab and is complementary to other nano-scaling technologies already in the semiconductor industry roadmap, Atomera said. "STMicroelectronics enjoys a leading position in many high-growth segments of the semiconductor market today, including smart driving and Internet of Things," said Scott Bibaud, CEO of Atomera, in a statement. "With the powerful combination of their team's expertise and our MST technology, we are hopeful it will drive products in those segments to new levels of performance." Related links and articles: www.atomera.com www.st.com News articles: Slow India may lose Cricket wafer fab Soitec sales climb on 300mm FDSOI wafer demand Leti, Soitec form substrate research center