The two-year contract was awarded under DARPA's Small
Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program,
which funds cooperative projects between businesses
and research institutions. Under the contract, NVE
will optimize and demonstrate high-sensitivity SDT
junction designs using computerized nanostructure
characterizations and atomic simulations to be developed
by the University of Virginia and Oxford University
(England).
SDT junctions are key spintronics building blocks
used in magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM),
ultra-sensitive sensors, and biomagnetic sensors.
SDT junctions produce a large change in resistance
through a normally insulating layer, depending on
the predominant electron spin in a data storage layer.
This allows electron spin to be sensed as electrical
resistance. SDT junctions rely on structures as thin
as a few atomic layers.
In January 2004 NVE reported it had achieved a record
for SDT junction sensitivity, which is measured as
tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR). TMR is the change
in junction resistance between two stable states.
"Better SDT junctions will mean faster, cheaper
MRAM, driving more widespread MRAM adoption,"
said NVE President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel
A. Baker, Ph.D. "This contract utilizes some
of the world's finest nanostructure modeling expertise
to help us continue our leadership in spintronics."
NVE's technology is protected by more than 100 patents
worldwide either issued, pending or licensed from
others. The company has approximately 18 patents related
to MRAM, some with dozens of claims.
NVE is a leader in the practical commercialization
of spintronics, a nanotechnology that many experts
believe represents the next generation of microelectronics.
NVE licenses its MRAM intellectual property and sells
spintronic products, including sensors and couplers,
to revolutionize data sensing and transmission.
Source: NVE Corporation
CONTACT:
Richard L. George, Chief Financial Officer of NVE
Corporation,
+1-952-829-9217
Web site: http://www.nve.com/
