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Richardson, Texas and Rapid City, South Dakota
(March 24, 2005)
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds today announced
a cooperative agreement involving Zyvex Corporation of Richardson,
Texas, the state of South Dakota, and Rapid City’s economic
development efforts to designate the South Dakota School of
Mines and Technology as the exclusive provider of integrated
circuit (IC) failure analysis services to the semi-conductor
industry.
The agreement between the world’s leading
supplier of molecular nanotechnology tools, products, and
services and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
will help bring new high-tech research, development and commercialization
opportunities to the state.
“I am very proud that Zyvex, and more specifically Mr.
Jim Von Ehr, has put his confidence in the South Dakota School
of Mines and Technology for this cutting-edge technological
service,” Governor Rounds said. “Zyvex could have
chosen any site in the world, but they chose South Dakota
because of our people and our ability to work as a team.”
Under the agreement, Zyvex will outsource testing services
to the Center for Accelerated Applications at the Nanoscale
(CAAN), located on the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
campus in Rapid City. The Center is one of four research centers
created last year by Gov. Rounds’ 2010 Initiative. One
of the goals of the initiative is to strengthen university
research and its commercial applications in South Dakota.
“We are extremely excited to partner with the South
Dakota School of Mines and Technology,” said James Von
Ehr, founder and chairman of Zyvex Corp. “Nanotechnology
has been called ‘the next industrial revolution’
because of its potential to transform manufacturing into a
high-margin, environmentally clean industry with the economics
and versatility of software.”
“South Dakota has made a rare commitment to foster not
just academic research, but real commercialization of this
field,” Von Ehr added. “Investing in research
is valuable to society at large, but investing in commercialization,
with the jobs that will be created, will have a greater economic
payback for the region that hosts those new companies.”
The agreement between South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
and Zyvex involves the purchase of highly specialized equipment
from Zyvex. The equipment measures and manipulates structures
smaller than 10 nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of
a meter. As a comparison, a human hair's diameter measures
about 100,000 nanometers.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will be the first
university to have this type of fully integrated system installed
and operational. The probing system will allow the university
to utilize the most advanced integrated system developed for
IC probing and nanomanipulation.
Electrical characterization of integrated circuits is an integral
component of the fabrication and design loop. As high magnification
scanning beam microscopes are needed to keep up with the decreasing
size scale of IC technology, electrical characterization using
probing systems that are specifically designed and optimized
for operation in these microscopes is needed.
The need to probe sub-100 nanometer features is relatively
new to the semiconductor industry. The Zyvex system, part
of their NanoWorks® product line, is capable of easily
landing four NanoEffector® probes within a 125 x 125 nanometer
area with better than 5 nanometer resolution.
“The semiconductor industry just keeps making things
smaller and smaller,” said CAAN Director Dr. Shawn Decker.
“Until Zyvex developed the equipment, the ability to
test integrated circuits at this level did not exist. Along
with providing the highest level of IC probing service to
current Zyvex customers, my job will be to actively provide
IC Probing services for customers in the semi-conductor industry
from all over the world. We will soon be open for business
here in South Dakota to provide integrated circuit failure
analysis at the nanoscale that is not commercially available
anywhere else. We are honored and excited to be working with
Zyvex on this and other nano level initiatives!”
With data collected from individual on-chip transistors using
the Zyvex Nanomanipulator/prober, IC design engineers can
feed actual device data into design models to improve modeling
accuracy.
Zyvex NanoWorks Products comprise flexible, cost-effective,
modular tools that promote interchangeability of sample/structural
carriers. Combining these with interchangeable NanoEffector
tools provides a wide array of experimental options—whether
the aim is to study meso, micro, nano or molecular based structures.
“Acquiring this equipment and providing product testing
services to the private sector will help create a national
reputation for this new research and development center at
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology,” said Harvey
Jewett, President of the SD Board of Regents. “It will
also provide a useful research environment for the university's
newly approved Ph.D. program in nanoscience and nanoengineering.”
Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw agreed. “We have always believed
that the university is a cornerstone to developing a technology-based
economic development future for our community, region and
state,” Mayor Shaw said. “Our economic development
community has been preparing programs and resources for many
years now, like the new business incubator at the South Dakota
School of Mines and Technology campus. We are prepared and
poised to participate in this bright future.”
Rounds announced that the state has provided a $250,000 grant
to help SDSMT and CAAN acquire the equipment. “Additional
funds were provided through a loan from the Rapid Fund, a
local economic development revolving loan fund,” said
Rapid City Area Economic Development President Bob DeMersseman.
“This opportunity between Zyvex and the university will
help all of us leverage the leadership Gov. Rounds has provided
through the 2010 Initiative.”
,
based in Richardson, Texas, is the first molecular nanotechnology
company. Zyvex’s vision is to be the leading worldwide
supplier of tools, products and services that enable adaptable,
affordable and molecularly precise manufacturing. Zyvex commercializes
nanotechnology to address real-world applications with high
growth potential. Zyvex carries its scientific breakthroughs
into key commercial applications in the area of materials,
tools and structures.
, unveiled
by Gov. Rounds in October of 2003, outlines a series of specific
goals, objectives and action plans for economic growth and
visitor spending in the state by the year 2010. When our vision
is fully realized, the 2010 Initiative will yield an unprecedented
era of opportunity and economic development for our state.
It’s an exciting and important undertaking, one that
will have lasting impact for all of us here in South Dakota.
www.2010initiative.com
The serves the people of South Dakota as their
technological university. Its mission is to provide a well-rounded
education that prepares students for leadership roles in engineering
and science; to advance the state of knowledge and application
of this knowledge through research and scholarship; and to
benefit the state, region, and nation through collaborative
efforts in education and economic development. It is dedicated
to being a leader in 21st Century education that reflects
a belief in the role of engineers and scientists as crucial
to the advancement of society. www.sdsmt.edu
For more information, contact Katharine Green,
Director of Corporate Communications, at kgreen@zyvex.com
or by phone at 972.235.7881 (ext. 220).
For more information, contact Mark Johnston,
Office of Governor Mike Rounds, at 605.773.3212 or mark.johnston@state.sd.us.
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