Motorola Inc, the largest maker of communications chips, said it invented a method of fusing two semiconductor materials that may reduce the cost of making mobile phones and other gear.
The company said it found a way to attach gallium arsenide, the main compound used in some chips critical to cellular phones and optical-networking equipment, to silicon, which costs one-tenth as much. Semiconductor makers will be able to reduce the amount of gallium arsenide they use, from the entire chip to an ultra-thin layer above the silicon, Motorola scientists said.
That would provide the benefits of gallium arsenide without the high costs, Motorola said. The process won't immediately jump-start Motorola's struggling semiconductor business, since such chips won't be in production until late 2003, chief technology officer Dennis Roberson said. Still, Motorola expects to license patents for its unnamed technology to many companies.
"I'd hesitate to use the words `Holy Grail,' but it's pretty close," said Richard Cunningham, an optical-networking analyst at researcher Cahners In-Stat Group. "I'd ride it hard if I were in their shoes with that kind of patent protection." Previously, chips had to be made entirely from silicon or gallium arsenide, Roberson said. Motorola, which also is the No. 2 mobile-phone maker behind Nokia Oyj, will use the material in its own chips. The Schaumburg, Illinois-based company said it has applied for more than 270 patents related to the discovery.
Motorola said it is one of the biggest advances in the history of the chip industry.
"I see this technology as becoming absolutely fundamental to all of the semiconductor industry, where you will only rarely find [chips] that don't deploy some element of this advancement," Roberson said. The technology "will literally change everything and find its way into all of the devices out there."
Motorola shares rose US$0.20, to US$$17.40, on Friday. They have declined 51 percent in the past year. US markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
Motorola scientists achieved the feat by using a compound called strontium titanate, known as STO, as a sort of jigsaw-puzzle piece that fits between the silicon and gallium arsenide.
They have used the code name "Jaguar" internally for the technology and are working on an official name, Roberson said.
While silicon is cheaper than gallium arsenide, silicon conducts electrons at one-fifth the speed and thus can't typically handle the higher radio frequencies and speeds required of chips that amplify signals in mobile phones and fiber-optic networking equipment.
A 300mm diameter silicon wafer costs about US$25 to US$40, while a gallium arsenide wafer of similar size costs US$200 to US$400, Roberson said.
"We have been searching worldwide to try to find anyone else who is working in this area," Roberson said. "Research in this area dates well back into the 1970s. Fundamentally, everybody gave up in about 1995 from what we can tell. It is really not an area that people have been working on very heavily."
Bob Merritt, an analyst with Semico Research Corp, said that while Motorola's invention won't apply to the PC microprocessors made by Intel Corp, it may spur increased demand for PCs -- especially those with faster processors -- because the cheaper cost of building fiber-optic networks will enable speedier Internet connections.
"It's a very critical part of that link to stimulate more demand," Merritt said.
Motorola makes chips for wireless phones, telecommunications equipment and computers. Its semiconductor revenue in the second quarter fell 38 percent, to US$1.25 billion, representing 17 percent of Motorola's sales. The division had a loss before taxes of US$518 million.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned