'Round The Circuit

Fast IC uses light beams

Bypassing the use of metal wires, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have created an extremely fast semiconductor incorporating fiber-optic technology. The team of researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has combined silicon and thin slices of synthetic sapphire to create a novel method of manufacturing microchips.

"We've developed a very fast and cost-effective way of getting data on and off a chip without using wire," reports Andreas Andreou, a department professor and director of the research lab.

The team uses the same fiber optics employed in telecommunications. The microchip takes a wire-conducted signal and transforms it into a light beam that is sent by a minuscule laser through the sapphire substrate. Microlenses and other optical components on the chip collect the light beam and send it elsewhere on the chip or to another chip through an optical fiber. A high-speed optical receiver circuit then transforms the light into an electron stream that can be sent through electrical wires to other computer components.

Andreou and his research team believe an optical signal can move at least 100 times faster than a signal sent over a metal wire. Because the sapphire substrate is an insulator, they also claim the optoelectric interface circuit needs much less power. This characteristic gives the new chip an advantage over microprocessors with wires that degrade signal strength and increase power consumption.

"Without the parasitic capacitances, it's much faster to send signals at the speed of light," asserts Alyss Apsel, a doctoral student who is involved in the project. The research team received grants from the Army Research Laboratories and NSF. Information: www.ece.jhu.edu.

Stingy cleanroom market seen

The market for cleanrooms and cleanroom products will grow a meager 6% in 2002, a market research firm reports. The McIlvaine Company says this growth will only begin to make up ground lost in 2001. Revenues for the combined hardware and consumables segments are expected to remain below the 2000 level.

Worldwide revenues from bunny suits, gloves, wipes, and laundry services will reach $3.7 billion in 2002, down from a high of $3.8 billion in 2000. Cleanroom revenues will grow to $2.8 billion in 2002, up slightly from the 2000 level of $2.77 billion, according to McIlvaine. Revenues from sales of semiconductor cleanrooms will make up only 28% of the total cleanroom market. In 2000 the microchip segment made up 42% of all room revenues. Cleanroom revenues will continue to grow at an annual rate of more than 8% for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry segments.

The forecast notes that cleanroom industry growth will be way below the historical average of 17% for the next few years. The potential for a more bullish forecast exists with a possible upturn in the introduction of 300-mm wafers and the next generation of semiconductors, McIlvaine asserts. The cleanroom markets in the United States and Japan have been hit the hardest by the semiconductor industry downturn. Both Taiwan and South Korea have begun to rebound. Europe has done slightly better than the United States.

Finally, the market research firm reports that government agencies have caused an upsurge in orders for gloves, gloveboxes, biosafety cabinets, filters, and related cleanroom equipment. The U.S Postal Service and corporations looking for antiterrorist protection are buying the gear. The forecast does not reflect these sales. Information: www.mcilvainecompany.com.

IEST revises cleanliness RPs

IEST has issued new recommended practice (RP) publications written to help users specify production cleanliness levels and contamination control program requirements. Product Cleanliness Levels and Contamination Control Program (IEST-STD-CC1246D) is an updated version of MIL-STD-1246C, which the contamination control division of IEST prepared for the U.S. Army Missile Command. IEST Contamination Control Working Group 901, chaired by Joyce Steakley of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, prepared the document.

Cleanroom Housekeeping: Operating and Monitoring Procedures (IEST-RP-CC018.3) offers guidance for maintaining a cleanroom at the proper design level. It can be used as a guide for establishing suitable housekeeping practices. Test procedures, updated from IEST-RP-CC018.2, help users establish frequency of cleaning tasks and monitor the effectiveness of the housekeeping regimen. In addition, the authors have revised data and added figures. This document falls within the jurisdiction of IEST Contamination Control Working Group 018, chaired by Anne-Marie Dixon of Cleanroom Management Associates. Information: www.iest.org;publicationsales@iest.org.