SAN DIEGO -- JMAR Technologies Inc. here today announced it has received additional funding from the U.S. Army to develop and deliver an X-ray lithography tool for producing gallium-arsenide (GaAs) devices in military applications.
The contract, valued up to $34.5 million, comes from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The contract directs JMAR to deliver "with all diligence" its one-nanometer, point-source X-ray lithography (XRL) system.
"We expect this additional funding will enable JMAR to clearly demonstrate the superiority of XRL for producing high-performance compound semiconductors, such as those based on GaAs or gallium nitride (GaN), more rapidly and more cost-effectively than other lithography processes," said John S.Martinez, JMAR's chairman and CEO.
In the second quarter of 2002 JMAR plans to combine its point-source system with an upgraded Model 5 stepper produced by the company's XRL System division--JMAR/JSAL NanoLithography (JSAL).
An integrated system will then be installed at a government-approved GaAs microcircuit production facility, where it will be used for system demonstrations and semiconductor manufacturing process evaluation purposes. It will also serve as a platform for developing future XRL systems.
The types of compound semiconductors to be fabricated under the contract will depend on the production needs. Applications under consideration include the fabrication of critical GaAs components, such as high-power monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs).
