A $5.8 million (3.3 million pound) project to develop a 300mm production tool for MRAM will kick off this month in the United Kingdom after a year’s delay.

Thin film expert Nordiko Technical Services dropped out of the three-member consortium last year, when it was acquired by Japanese competitor Anelva. “It was very annoying,” said Keith Buchanan, project manager at South Wales equipment player Trikon.

Since then the paperwork necessary to formulate a new triumvirate has been processed, with Atmel North Tyneside taking Nordiko’s place.

“The lead-in there is that Atmel is obviously a non-volatile memory supplier -- that’s the link to MRAM,” explained Buchanan.

“They’re going to be helping us with specifications, and supplying us with substrates and analytical capability,” he said.

The funding is part of the first round of awards from the Government’s Micro and Nanotechnology Manufacturing (MNT) initiative.

By: DocMemory
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