Nano Electronics

Massively-dense nano-sized memory devices for both military and commercial systems to support future expansion of features and capabilities and enablement of next-generation applications require revolutionary increases in memory density while maintaining low power dissipation and cost.

Military systems to capture and store information in integrated sensor systems for applications such as imaging sensors for object identification and target recognition, automatic friend-or-foe identification, and theater threat assessment.

Commercial market requires massively-dense memory devices to drive future growth and expansion of features in high-performance portable consumer devices such as digital cameras, video recorders, laptops, cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players.

Nano-sensors enable highly-compact data storage and high-speed image processing at extremely high resolution.

Privatran is currently developing hybrid nano-sized memory elements that capture, store and read-out tiny bits of information over a high-speed, high-bandwidth microconnect bus interfaced with leading-edge Si microelectronic processor and data acquisition systems.

When integrated with advanced sensors the memory array acts as a buffer that enables low-power, high-speed data acquisition directly to Si-based micro-electronics. PrivaTran transistor-level circuit designs insure a compatible 3-way interface between sensor, memory and data acquisition.

New products are focused on a radiation-resistant, programmable-resistance nano-memory element and the associated support platform. Integrating materials exhibiting programmable resistance with leading-edge commercial platforms is key to the PrivaTran nano-device memory platform.

Organic molecules including for example C60 fullerenes are being grafted onto Si and studied for their programmable resistance properties. PrivaTran collaborating partners for this development effort include the James Tour Group at Rice University (http://www.jmtour.com) and the Microelectronics Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin (http://www.mrc.utexas.edu).

Both Si-based and organic non-volatile memory require specific processes in order to exhibit programmed resistance. These studies are being performed now in conjunction with PrivaTran partners. Extension of the current two-dimensional memory array to three dimensions is truly designing electronic architecture today for tomorrow's nano-memory product.

PrivaTran specializes in building the direct interface between advanced sensors and the most advanced electronics commercially-available today. PrivaTran engineers and scientists use industry-standard semiconductor design and layout tools to define circuit topology as well as advanced physical and mathematical modeling to fully-describe the sensor and port sensor outputs through the PrivaTran interface directly to the customer's IC.

Privatran staff have designed and developed single chip integrated solutions for many sensing system applications