Nanochip, Inc.

About Company

Nanochip is developing the next generation of removable, portable memory chips for consumer applications. Using MEMs technology along with arrays of atomic force probe tips, Nanochip is developing storage chips that will store tens of Gigabytes per chip. Our technology is not bound by lithography constraints and it is expected that we will be able to offer storage card products through our customers that will exceed 100 GB per card at competitive prices.

Founded in 1996 by Tom Rust, Nanochip is a fabless semiconductor company that is developing a range of removable storage chips that can be used in consumer electronics products such as digital cameras, cell phones, PDA’s, etc. as well as laptop computers and fast servers. The storage chips that are in development at Nanochip are based upon the technology of writing domains in phase-change media with current passed through an array of atomic force probe tips in contact with the media. Either the media or the tip array can be moved with micro-mechanical (MEMs) movers to write, read, and erase bits on the media that are in the range of 10 to 20 nanometers in size.

The benefit of the Nanochip technology is that their storage chips are not dependent on the limits of lithography. The recorded bits are defined by the tip/media interface, whereas the chip itself is made with older and much less expensive lithography tools. The media itself has been shown to support domains as small as 5 nanometers which in the future could lead to 100 GB individual dies or storage chips.

Nanochip has partnered with several large companies to help in our product development. We also work closely with several well known experts at major universities who specialize in atomic force probe tips and phase change media. Nanochip licenses the phase change media from Ovonyx, Inc. in Michigan.