Date: Sep 29, 2004 Source: bizjournals (
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Santa Fe's STAR Cryoelectronics announced this week it has been selected by the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for a research and development award to develop a next-generation X-ray spectrometer for applications in the microanalysis of semiconductors.
The three-year project awarded by ATP, a program within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will be funded with a $1,833,376 award from ATP and $928,878 in cost-share funds contributed by STAR Cryoelectronics.
"We are very pleased and excited that ATP has selected STAR Cryoelectronics' proposal for the development of a next-generation spectrometer for X-ray microanalysis applications," said company President Robin Cantor in a news release announcing the award. "This project builds upon core technologies and technical capabilities at STAR Cryoelectronics and will enable the company to address and meet critical needs facing the U.S. semiconductor industry. The potential impact of this new technology development to the nation as a whole as well as to the company are significant."
The project seeks to address a critical need of the semiconductor industry. As manufacturing advances make computer chips smaller, the need for new tools to analyze them and detect defects is also changing. Conventional analytical tools offer limited resolution of chips that today can be only a few hundred nanometers in size. A nanometer is equivalent to one-billionth the length of a meter.
With the ATP award, STAR Cryoelectronics wants to develop a microcalorimeter spectrometer that will make a ten-fold improvement in energy resolution over conventional analytical tools. The new tool will require STAR Cryoelectronics to overcome several technical hurdles, including the development of special materials, fabrication of the tool and also its integration into a complete system.
STAR Cryoelectronics LLC was founded in 1999 and employs six. The company designs and manufacturers advanced sensors and related PC-based control electronics.
Last year, the company reported revenues of more than $1.1 million. To date, the company has received more than $1.5 million in Small Business Innovative Research grants to develop its X-ray detector technology to be used in NASA astrophysics applications.
