DANBURY, Conn. and ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., March 24, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- ATMI, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI) and Ovonyx, Inc. today announced an agreement to jointly develop chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursor materials and processes to enable their use in the commercial, high-volume manufacture of phase change memory ("PCM") products based on Ovonyx's PCM technology. PCM is widely considered to be a practical alternative to Flash and DRAM devices, both of which will encounter increasing scaling challenges in the face of shrinking chip geometries.
"Ovonyx's phase change memory technology offers the benefit of increased performance and relative ease of scaling to future smaller device nodes. PCM is on the verge of commercial adoption using conventional deposition techniques; however, subsequent generation CVD deposition of phase change materials and delivery processes will further increase scalability and accelerate cost reductions," said Doug Neugold, Chief Executive Officer of ATMI. "By applying our high productivity semiconductor precursor materials development, delivery, and deposition process expertise with Ovonyx's PCM knowledge, we believe that, together, we can accelerate the adoption of CVD phase change material deposition into high volume production."
"ATMI's strong deposition expertise and world class development teams in the semiconductor arena provide an excellent platform for competitive development of new phase change material deposition techniques using innovative CVD precursor materials," said Tyler Lowrey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ovonyx. "We are pleased by this agreement and look forward to working with ATMI to develop conformal deposition methodologies that will further enhance the commercialization of PCM products by worldwide chipmakers."
The agreement also provides certain cross-licensing of patents and technology between the two companies.
About Phase Change Memory Technology
Ovonyx and its largest shareholder, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.(Nasdaq:ENER) (see website at www.ovonic.com), invented and pioneered the development of phase change memory ("PCM") technology, thereby gaining a fundamental understanding of PCM operation, including PCM devices, materials, processing, design, modeling, and performance. Ovonyx PCM technology uses a reversible phase-change memory process that provides for high performance, dense, array-addressed semiconductor memory technology that can be used as cost effective Flash and DRAM device replacements, as well as in embedded applications such as microcontrollers and reconfigurable MOS logic.
About ATMI
ATMI provides innovative materials and high-purity materials handling and process optimization solutions designed to increase production yields, accelerate new product introductions, reduce capital expenditures, and mitigate risks for its global semiconductor, flat panel, and specialized process customers.
As The Source of Process Efficiency(tm), ATMI draws upon its extensive materials expertise and the application of proprietary high productivity development techniques to rapidly identify and characterize new material technologies that reduce development cycle time and enable faster time-to-market for customers. By working collaboratively with customers to improve their process efficiencies, ATMI delivers measurable value and return on investment. For more information, please visit atmi.com.
About Ovonyx
Ovonyx was formed with the charter to commercialize its proprietary phase-change semiconductor memory technology originally invented at Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER) (see website at www.ovonic.com). Ovonyx nonvolatile memory technology offers significantly faster write and erase speeds, higher cycling endurance, and better scaling performance with new generations of photolithography than conventional Flash memory. It also has the advantage of a simple fabrication process that allows the design of semiconductor chips with embedded nonvolatile memory using only a few additional mask steps. Ovonyx is pursuing commercialization of its array-addressed memory systems through licenses and joint development programs with semiconductor manufacturers including BAESystems, Intel Corporation, ST Microelectronics, Nanochip, Elpida Memory, Samsung Electronics, Qimonda AG, and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. For more information, please visit www.ovonyx.com.
Statements contained herein that relate to ATMI's future performance, including, without limitation, statements with respect to ATMI's anticipated results of operations or level of business for 2008 or any other future period, are forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations only and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including, but not limited to, changes in semiconductor industry growth (including, without limitation, wafer starts) or ATMI's markets; competition, problems, or delays developing and commercializing new products; problems or delays in integrating acquired operations and businesses; and other factors described in ATMI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. ATMI undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.