PERFORMANCE
OF
COMPLETED
PROJECTS
STATUS REPORT
NUMBER 1
NIST SPECIAL PUBLICATION
950-1
Economic Assessment
Office
Advanced Technology Program
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
William F. Long
Business Performance Research Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
March 1999
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 - Overview of Completed Projects
Characteristics of the Projects
Timeline of Expected ATP Project
Activities and Impacts
Gains in Technical Knowledge
Dissemination of New Knowledge
Commercialization of the New Technology
Broad-Based Economic Benefits
CHAPTER 2 - Biotechnology
Aastrom Biosciences,
Inc.
Aphios Corporation
Molecular Simulations, Inc.
Thermo Trilogy Corporation
Tissue Engineering, Inc.
CHAPTER 3 - Chemicals and Chemical Processing
BioTraces, Inc.
CHAPTER 4 - Discrete Manufacturing
Auto Body Consortium (Joint
Venture)
HelpMate Robotics, Inc.
PreAmp Consortium (Joint Venture)
Saginaw Machine Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 5 - Electronics
Accuwave Corporation
AstroPower, Inc.
Cree Research, Inc.
Cynosure, Inc.
Diamond Semiconductor Group, LLC
FSI International, Inc.
Galileo Corporation
Hampshire Instruments, Inc. (Joint Venture)
Illinois Superconductor Corporation
Light Age, Inc.
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Multi-Film Venture (Joint Venture)
Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc.
Spire Corporation
Thomas Electronics, Inc.
CHAPTER 6 - Energy and Environment
American Superconductor Corporation
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company
Michigan Molecular Institute
CHAPTER 7 - Information, Computers, and Communications
Communication Intelligence Corporation #1
Communication Intelligence Corporation #2
Engineering Animation, Inc.
ETOM Technologies, Inc.
Mathematical Technologies, Inc.
Torrent Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 8 - Materials
AlliedSignal, Inc.
Geltech Incorporated
IBM Corporation
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Development of New
Knowledge and Early Commercial Products and Processes
Appendix B: Terminated Projects
END NOTES
End Notes
Click here for PDF version of report.
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Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc. (NVE)
Computer RAM Chips That Hold Memory When Power Is Off
Conventional
random access memory (RAM) computer chips record information
written or copied into them by a computer, and they hold that
data as long as electricity flows through the chips. Once the
power is turned off, the information is lost unless it has been
"saved" to a floppy disk or to the computer's hard disk, which
hold data even when the power is off. Many computer users have
learned this fact only after a power outage or other mishap
suddenly erases the data they were working on. Program manuals
and technical support staff repeatedly advise computer users
to "save often." |
RAM That Remembers Without Power
If a memory chip could store data permanently, it would prevent
these accidental loses of information. And if it could be produced
in small sizes at competitive costs, the new chip would greatly
affect how computers are configured and used. For example, an insertable
card containing memory chips (which have no moving parts) could
be substituted for a hard disk drive.
Photomicrograph of a GMR magnetic field sensor, with actual dimensions
of 437 x 3370 microns.
Civilian Use of MRAM Technology
This ATP project with Nonvolatile Electronics (NVE), founded in
1989 (and operated from the founder's house until the ATP award),
aimed to develop such a memory chip. The founder co-invented "magnetoresistive"
RAM (MRAM) technology for defense applications while at Honeywell,
which subsequently licensed the technology to NVE for civilian uses.
For these applications, the technology had to achieve greater density,
signal strength and production yield to meet cost considerations,
which are more important in consumer markets than in the military
market.
A metal is magnetoresistive if it shows a slight change in electrical
resistance when placed in a magnetic field. In 1988, scientists
discovered that a sandwich of metals shows a much larger change
in resistance than a single metal of the same size. This effect
was named "giant magnetoresistance," or GMR.
The clean room at Nonvolatile Electronics in which GMR sensors
and other devices are fabricated.
Researchers at NVE saw the use of GMR materials as a way to achieve
advances in signal strength, and they made important advances in
the producibility of GMR materials. They also achieved the project's
circuit density goals and made substantial improvements to production
throughput, or yield. These developments are all important for lowering
barriers to commercializing the technology for civilian applications.
The researchers made prototype high-quality MRAM cells that were
successfully demonstrated at Honeywell.
A Promising Spinoff Application
As NVE focused on GMR materials advances, it saw a potential spin-off
application that received only marginal attention when the company
started its ATP project: GMR sensors. A major application for sensors
based on the new technology is possibly in antilock brake systems
in automobiles and trucks. These systems use a clamp to grip the
edge of a steel disk attached to the wheel. If the clamp grabs too
tightly, the brake "locks," the wheel stops rotating, and the tire
slides on the road surface instead of gripping it. In an antilock
brake system, a sensor detects the rotation of the disk and feeds
that information into a computer. If the computer detects overly
rapid deceleration - indicating the brake is about to lock - it
directs the braking mechanism to reduce clamp pressure to keep that
from happening.
The new NVE sensors are substantially more sensitive than conventional
sensors. They can be farther from the monitored object while performing
equally well. Their magnets can be smaller, so the cost is less.
And the NVE sensors can detect rotational speeds closer to zero,
which means the computer receives more-accurate data to use in controlling
the brake mechanism. In a vehicle equipped with an antilock brake
system incorporating NVE sensors, the driver will have better skid
and stopping control.
Product Sales and Commercialization Agreements
NVE expects to apply its sensor technology in several other industries,
too, including medical devices, consumer products and machine tool
manufacturing. Production for these markets is planned for the near
future. According to NVE, it is the first to make and sell GMR-based
sensing products for the general market, and it has established
a new company division for this purpose. Its sales of GMR-based
sensors have grown by about 3,000 percent recently, from around
$5,000 in 1994 to more than $150,000 in 1997. The company has also
generated revenues from engineering contracts, as well as royalties
from companies that license its technology.
NVE entered into an agreement with Motorola in 1995 to develop
MRAMs, and the development work is under way. Production could begin
in 1999. If this effort succeeds, NVE expects to capture a sizable
share of the $45 billion annual market for memory and hard-disk-drive
products. The company also signed an agreement with Microtrace in
1996 to use a procedure based on GMR techniques to make counterfeiting
of aircraft parts much easier to detect. The development work is
under way, and products for this application are also expected in
1999.
For GMR applications beyond its own pursuits, NVE has offered its
knowledge to other companies, universities and national laboratories.
This was done through another ATP project (#91-01-0016: "Ultrahigh-Density
Magnetic Recording Heads") conducted by a large joint venture led
by the National Storage Industry Consortium. NVE officials consulted
on fabrication methods for making GMR films and supplied samples
of the films made by NVE.
Benefits From the Technology
Because NVE is selling only sensors, all benefits will initially
come from that product. When the sensors actually begin appearing
in commercial products - some time after the year 2000 - end users
will have access to competitively priced devices that operate at
much greater temperature extremes than do conventional sensors.
Additional benefits will accrue from GMR sensors as more are used
in a variety of applications.
GMR sensors will likely generate substantial economic benefits
beyond those realized by NVE. A sensor is a small part of an antilock
brake system, which is a small part of a much larger device - an
automobile. Several manufacturing and subassembly stages lie between
the development of the sensor and the final product, and the sensors
add value to the product at each stage. According to NVE, the total
of this spillover benefit will likely be more than 10 times greater
than what the company earns for the use of its new technology. And
the aggregate benefit will increase as more cars are equipped with
antilock brake systems incorporating NVE sensors. Spillover benefits
promise to be even larger when the sensors are used in other applications.
In addition to these applications, the company's GMR sensors are
being used for portable traffic monitoring instruments, and they
may be very useful for instruments used to detect land mines. Geometrics,
Inc., in Denver, Colorado, has contracts to design and test devices
to detect anti-personnel mines for the U. S. military, and it has
subcontracted with NVE to supply GMR sensors for the detectors.
If the design and testing lead to workable detection instruments,
a much better job of finding and removing unwanted land mines will
be the result. There are 100-200 million such land mines throughout
the world in areas that were formerly areas of warfare, and they
kill and maim tens of thousands of innocent people each year.
The market for MRAMs - the application initially targeted by NVE
- may eventually be important, but it is still in the future. If
MRAMs ultimately reduce accidental loss of information to computer
users, benefits will be large.
ATP Project Saves Company
Before the ATP project, NVE was a tiny, undercapitalized company
facing significant technological risks in developing the technology
for commercial uses. Funding from the ATP, however, enabled the
project to be done and prevented the company from failing, NVE officials
say. In addition, the ATP award improved the company's ability to
attract capital from other sources.
PROJECT:
To develop magnetoresistance technology for use in making computer
random access memory (RAM) "nonvolatile" - data will not be
lost when power is turned off.
Duration: 4/1/1991 - 3/31/1994
ATP number:90-01-0166
FUNDING (in thousands)::
ATP |
$1,785 |
67% |
Company |
869 |
33% |
Total |
$2,654 |
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
In its quest to develop magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), NVE made
significant advances in producibility, circuit density and
signal strength by using giant magnetoresistance (GMR) materials.
In the process, the company developed an important spinoff
application of the technology in sensors. Indicative of progress,
NVE:
- started producing an initial commercial product, a GMR
magnetic bridge sensor, in 1994, selling about 50,000 by
the end of 1997 to other companies for examination purposes
and earning revenues of more than $150,000 that year alone;
- entered into an agreement with Motorola in 1995 to develop
MRAMs (development is still under way, with sales possible
in 1999);
- entered into an agreement with Microtrace in 1996 to use
a GMR-based procedure to make counterfeiting of aircraft
parts much easier to detect (development work is under way);
- licensed the ATP-funded technology to Honeywell (for use
in military and avionics applications), which incorporated
it into computer systems placed in government agencies;
and
- transferred knowledge about GMR materials to members of
an ATP joint venture working on technology for magntic disk
storage based on the GMR effect.
COMMERCIALIZATION STATUS:
NVE is successfully making and selling - with a recent growth
rate of about 3,000 percent - GMR-based sensing products,
a spin-off from its MRAM technology development project. It
is also pursuing commercialization of MRAMs through an agreement
with Motorola, an endeavor that could lead to a substantial
share of a $45 billion/year market.
OUTLOOK:
The outlook is excellent for expanded use of GMR sensors, which
have many applications, including pace makers, engine control,
shock absorbers, antilock brake systems, current monitoring,
cylinder position sensing and automatic meter reading. The outlook
for commercialization of the nonvolatile memory chips is potentially
bright. But with several more years of development, the extent
of use remains uncertain. Spillover benefits are potentially
large.
COMPANY:
Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc. (NVE)
5805 Amy Drive
Edina, MN 55436
Contact: James M. Daughton
Phone: (612) 996-1607
Number of employees:
10 at project start, 56 at the end of 1997
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Date created:
March 1999
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
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