Nov 30, Reuters -- Atomera Inc has come up with a new technology that could boost the production output of power-management semiconductors, a category of chip found in nearly every electronic device that has been in short supply globally.
Los Gatos, California-based Atomera develops methods for manufacturing chips and licenses its technology to chip designers and manufacturers. Its approach involves inserting a layer of oxygen atoms into a semiconductor material to make chips smaller and more power efficient.
The technology announced Tuesday is designed for 5 volt power management chips. The chips are situated between a power source such as a battery or electrical outlet and allow them to convert the kind of power supplied by the source into the kind of power needed by a device's computing chips.
Atomera said it could shrink the size of transistors in power management chips so that semiconductor manufacturers can get 20% more chips out of their existing techniques and tools.
Scott Bibaud, Atomera's chief executive, told Reuters in an interview that it would take about two years for chipmakers to implement the technology.
Bibaud said Power management chips are the quickest chips to design because they are very fast on the scale of semiconductors.