AIXTRON AG (FWB:AIXA) (NASDAQ:AIXG) and Ovonyx, Inc. today announced an agreement to cooperate on the qualification of Atomic Vapor Deposition (AVD®) process technology to further advance scaling of next-generation phase change memory ("PCM") products. As FLASH and DRAM both encounter increasing scaling challenges in the face of shrinking chip geometries - PCM is widely considered a practical alternative for future commercial, high-volume semiconductor memory.
“AIXTRON’s leading market position in thin-film deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry provides an excellent platform for competitive development of new phase change material by AVD® technique for next-generation, high-density confined cell PCM device structures,” said Tyler Lowrey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ovonyx. “We look forward to working with AIXTRON to develop conformal deposition processes that will further enhance the commercialization of PCM products by worldwide chipmakers.”
“PCM is on the verge of commercial adoption using conventional sputter Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) techniques, however, it is clear that subsequent generation PCM cells would significantly benefit from Atomic Vapor Deposition of phase change materials to further increase scalability and accelerate cost reductions,” said Dr. Bernd Schulte, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AIXTRON AG. “We believe that, working with Ovonyx, we can accelerate commercialization of AVD® phase change material deposition into high volume production and offer chip manufacturers higher productivity and low cost of ownership solution.”