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Performance
of 50 Completed ATP Projects
Status
Report - Number 2
NIST SP 950-2
Chapter
4 - Electronics, Computer Hardware & Communications
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Multi-Film
Venture
(Joint Venture, formerly the American Scaled-Electronics Corporation)
Joining Several Chips Into One
Complex Integrated Circuit
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| In
the race to boost the performance and decrease the size of the integrated
circuits (ICs) used in computers, one limitation gets a lot of notice:
the two-dimensional (2D) nature of ICs. An IC, or chip, is flat. Its
operating speed depends greatly on the length of the wires interconnecting
its tiny components. Chip designers spend enormous resources to make
the longest wire as short as possible and to reduce component size
so they can be placed closer together. But as long as chips are 2D
devices, wire length constrains how fast they can operate. |
COMPOSITE
PERFORMANCE SCORE
(Based on a four star rating.)
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New Capabilities From
Interconnected Chips
On a seemingly unrelated front, the need frequently arises for large electronic
displays — in hospital operating rooms, military command centers,
industrial applications, and even sports bars. Sometimes the display must
also be flat. For home use, a display that mounts flat on the wall like
a picture is ideal and is much sought after by technology leaders. Large
CRT (cathode-ray tube) displays are available. But a 35-inch CRT display
may be 30 inches deep and weigh 150 pounds. Flat-panel displays, like
those in notebook computers, are also widely available. But they are typically
small, since the display usually has just one panel consisting of a single,
broad, light-emitting IC. Attempts to greatly increase the scale of single-IC
fabrication have been accompanied by commercially unacceptable levels
of defects. Interconnecting several chips introduces other problems.
One Technology for
Two Major Needs
The Multi-Film Venture (MFV) — a partnership between MCC and Kopin
Corporation (a small company spun off in 1984 from Lincoln Laboratory
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) — used ATP funding
to speed up by two years the development of technology to address the
needs for larger flat-panel displays and for shorter IC component connectors.
The new technology can be used to join several broad light-emitting ICs
into a single large display with no visible seam. It can also be used
to join small ICs, stacked like a deck of cards, so that wire lengths
can be shortened. ATP funding made this joint venture possible, and the
project’s success attracted further research and development funding
from outside sources.
The new technology
is based on ATP-funded development of advanced methods for positioning
IC components with micron-scale alignment and for connecting individual
ICs, as well as new adhesive procedures for bonding chips together. It
is also based on proven IC fabrication methods and proprietary thin-film
transfer technology previously developed by Kopin. MCC contributed its
expertise in adhesives, bonding, and positioning.
During the ATP project,
MFV researchers proved the feasibility of transferring thin-film, single-crystal
silicon ICs to a substrate and interconnecting them to form a functioning
multifilm module (MFM). They designed, built, and successfully demonstrated
a large-area, flat-panel display to show seamless joining of several panels
(single, broad, light-emitting ICs) arranged side by side like floor tiles,
to form the display.
Giant Flat Screens
and 3D Microprocessors
The earliest commercial use of the new MFM technology is likely to be
in military, medical, and industrial flat-panel displays and large high-resolution
displays. The tiled displays would replace conventional CRT displays.
When cost considerations make it profitable, they would replace large
single-panel displays based on relatively expensive technologies such
as liquid crystal display. The new technology also has potential applications
in desktop computer displays and — with volume production and lower
prices — in wall displays for the home. In addition, the ATP technology
should be competitive for very high resolution screens, those with resolutions
of 2,000 by 2,000 pixels per inch up to 10,000 by 10,000 pixels.
The MFM process is
expected to be useful for making devices with directly joined layers of
ICs that perform different functions. In one application, Kopin is collaborating
with Northeastern University (using $2 million from the Office of Naval
Research) to design, fabricate, and demonstrate a three-dimensional (3D)
microprocessor.
In a second application,
Kopin is working with Northeastern and Polaroid in a five-year project,
begun in June 1996, to develop a 3D computational image sensor for compact
low-power video cameras. The sensor will be a stack of three chips: a
sensor IC, a computation IC, and a read-out IC. The chips will be connected
using the ATP-funded MFM technology. This project is supported by $5 million
from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Kopin Succeeds in
Capital Markets
Although products incorporating the ATP-funded technology are not yet
on the market, they are likely to arrive soon. Kopin has shown that it
can carry out commercialization plans, as evidenced by its introduction
of other products after more than a decade of work on the underlying technology.
Also, Kopin’s success at raising funds in the private-capital market
reflects investor confidence in the company’s ability to commercialize
its technology. Kopin has raised an additional $31.8 million via private
equity investments since the end of the ATP project.
When the new products
— flat-panel displays and 3D microprocessors — are introduced,
intermediate companies (which purchase components produced by Kopin),
final-product manufacturers, and consumers are expected to reap large
benefits from the ATP-funded technology.
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Project
Highlights
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PROJECT:
To show the feasibility of interconnecting thin-film integrated
circuits (ICs), packed side by side or in layers, to form a complex,
multifilm module (MFM), and to demonstrate this technology in a
large flat-panel display.
Duration: 9/15/1992 — 9/15/1995
ATP Number: 91-01-0262
FUNDING (in
thousands):
| ATP |
$2,776
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48%
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| Company |
2,973
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52%
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| Total |
$5,749
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
MFV developed the MFM technology and demonstrated it in a large,
flat-panel display. In actions related to the project, Kopin:
- received
two patents for project-related technology:
“Single Crystal Silicon Tiles for Liquid Crystal Display
Panels Including Light Shielding Layers” (No. 5,377,031:
filed 8/18/1993, granted 12/27/1994),
“Method for Forming Three-Dimensional Processor Using Transferred
Thin-Film Circuits” (No. 5,656,548: filed 9/19/1995, granted
8/12/1997);
- raised $8.1
million from private sources during the ATP project;
- raised $26.6
million from a second public stock offering in March 1993;
- received
(with Northeastern University) $2 million from the Office of Naval
Research in June 1996 for R&D work, based directly on the
ATP-funded MFM technology, to design and fabricate a 3D microprocessor;
- received
(with Northeastern and Polaroid) $5 million from the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency in June 1996 for R&D work —
using the ATP-funded MFM technology — on 3D computational
image sensors for compact low-power video cameras;
- raised $31.8
million via private equity investments since the end of the ATP
project.
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CITATIONS
BY OTHERS OF PROJECT’S PATENTS:
See Figure 1.6, Chapter
1, and Figure 4.9.
COMMERCIALIZATION
STATUS:
Commercialization is expected within one or two years for products
incorporating the 3D microprocessor technology. Large-area flat-panel
displays based on the MFM technology are expected to be commercialized
when their market develops.
OUTLOOK:
The outlook is very promising. Products based on the ATP-funded
technology are being developed by Kopin and are expected to be introduced
to the market soon.
Composite
Performance Score:
COMPANY:
Multi-Film Venture
(MFV; formerly the American Scaled-Electronics Consortium)
Kopin Corporation (joint venture lead)
695 Myles Standish Blvd.
Taunton, MA 02780
Contact:
Ollie Woodard
Phone: (508) 870-5959
Number of employees: 70 at project start, 100 at the end
of 1997
Other joint venture participant: MCC, Inc. (formerly Microelectronics
& Computer Technology Corporation)
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Return to Table
of Contents or go to next section.
Date created: April
2002
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
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