Atomera, STMicro sign deal to use new chipmaking material
26/04/2023 21:05
By Stephen Nellis
April 26 (Reuters) - Atomera Inc ATOM.O , a Silicon
Valley firm with a new material for improving semiconductors, on
Wednesday said it has signed a deal with STMicroelectronics NV
STM.DE under which the European chipmaker could start using
Atomera's technology in production.
Atomera said the deal allows STMicro to install Atomera's
technology in its factories, and manufacture and distribute
chips made with it. The companies did not disclose terms of the
deal.
Atomera has developed a new material that can slot into
existing semiconductor manufacturing processes to improve
transistors, the tiny electrical switches at the heart of all
chips. Atomera claims its material in some cases can improve
transistors as much as jumping to a new-generation technology,
but with lower costs.
Atomera's business model is to license the technology to
chip makers and then collect a small royalty on each chip made
with the technology. But chipmakers integrate such new
technologies quite slowly, and none of the two dozen or so
companies that Atomera has engagements with are yet using its
technology in mass production.
Atomera Chief Executive Scott Bibaud told Reuters that
STMicro, with the new deal, is now Atomera's closest customer to
moving to mass production. Bibaud said there is no firm timeline
for when chips with Atomera technology will be in production,
but it could be within 12 to 18 months.
"The license contemplates what the royalty payments will be
to us when that happens," Bibaud said.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by
Leslie Adler)
((Stephen.Nellis@thomsonreuters.com;))