Akoustis Announces Its First 5.8GHz Single-Crystal Resonators For BAW RF Filters
-Measured Results Demonstrated from Wafers Manufactured at the New York Fab Scheduled to be Acquired by Akoustis-
Charlotte, N.C., May 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKTS) (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), a manufacturer of patented, single-crystal BulkONE® bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile, Wi-Fi and other wireless applications, announced today its first demonstration of 5.8GHz single-crystal AlN resonators for BAW RF filter applications.
5.8GHz devices were measured from 150-mm wafers, which were manufactured at the New York Fab that is scheduled to be acquired by Akoustis. The resonator technology incorporates Akoustis’ single-crystal piezoelectric materials, which were scaled to achieve the 5.8GHz resonance frequency. These high frequency resonators, whichuse thinner single-crystal piezoelectric materials, exhibited high K-squared and high acoustic velocity - consistent with lower frequency devices made from thicker single-crystal materials.
The technical results of the demonstration will be presented on June 9that IEEE 2017 International Microwave Symposium (IMS) during a workshop called “WFL: Materials and Devices for Next-Generation High-Q RF Resonators and Filters”. The Akoustis workshop presentation is titled: “High Frequency, High Power, Single Crystal III-N BAW Devices”.
Akoustis is currently consolidating and optimizing its single-crystal BAW process technology while modeling and designing new 5GHz BAW RF filter circuits. The high frequency RF resonator technologytargets 5GHz Wi-Fi routers and LTE-U mobile market applications.
According to Cisco’s 2017 Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast update, Wi-Fi traffic from both mobile devices and Wi-Fi-only devices together will account for 49% of total IP traffic by 2020 (equivalent to 100 Exabytes per month), up from 42% in 2015. In order to support HD media streaming, multiple devices and online gaming, new TriBand Wi-Fi routers (incorporating two separate 5GHz bands) offer aggregate link speeds of 3200Mbps. Each 5GHz band offers speeds upto 1300Mbps and creates opportunities for premium BAW RF filters.
Jeff Shealy, CEO of Akoustis, commented “With today’s announcement, Akoustis has expanded its patented, single-crystal BAW technology to cover 5GHz wireless applications.” Mr. Shealy continued, “It is also important to note that the performance was demonstrated on the first lot of 5GHz wafers processed at the STC MEMS wafer foundry in New York. The previously announced and planned asset purchase of the New York facility and wafer fab operation is on track to close in late June 2017.”
On March 24, 2017, Akoustis announced it had entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 120,000 Sq. Ft. Wafer Manufacturing Facility,and STC-MEMS, a semiconductor wafer manufacturing operation with associated 150-mm wafer production tools and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) business, as well as 57-acres of real estate associated with the facility located in Canandaigua, New York. The transaction enables the Company to control the manufacturing of its BAW RF filters.
Akoustis is pioneering next-generation material science to address the market requirements for improved RF filters - targeting higher bandwidth, higher operating frequencies and higher output power compared to incumbent polycrystalline BAW technology deployed today. Superior performance is driven by the significant advances of high-purity, single-crystal piezoelectric materials and the resonator-filter process technology. The advanced material properties drive electro-mechanical coupling, which translates to wide filter bandwidth. High-band RF filters are achieved by leveraging the Company’s high-sound velocity, single-crystal piezoelectric materials. These single-crystal piezoelectric materials offer high-thermal conductivity along the path of heat flow, enabling high-power handling capability of the RF filter.
About Akoustis
Akoustis® (http://www.akoustis.com) is a high-tech RF filter solutions company that designs and manufactures its unique, patented BulkONE® technology to produce single-crystal bulk acoustic wave (BAW) RF filters for mobile and other wireless markets, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and digital back end. Its BulkONE® technology will service the fast growing multi-billion dollar market of device OEMs, network providers, and consumers to diminish Front End phone heat, battery drain and signal loss -- all considered to be directly related to current RF polycrystalline filter technologies' limitations. Akoustis’ capital-efficient business model leverages new and existing investments in manufacturing infrastructure within the semiconductor industry. Akoustis® is located in the Piedmont technology corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, including “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation,
• risks relating to the results of our research and development activities, including uncertainties relating to semiconductor process manufacturing;
• the early stage of our BulkONE® technology presently under development;
• our need for substantial additional funds in order to continue our operations and the uncertainty of whether we will be able to obtain the funding we need;
• our ability to retain or hire key scientific, engineering or management personnel; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights that are valuable to our business, including patent and other intellectual property rights;
• our dependence on third-party manufacturers, suppliers, research organizations, testing laboratories and other potential collaborators;
• our planned acquisition of STC-MEMS, and such acquisition may not be closed, could disrupt our business, may not be successfully integrated and harm our financial condition;
• our ability to successfully market and sell our technologies;
• the size and growth of the potential markets for any of our technologies, and the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our technologies;
• competition in our industry; and
• regulatory developments in the U.S. and foreign countries.
In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included in this presentation speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this presentation to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. The materials do not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of any offer to buy, any securities of Akoustis, or any other entity whatsoever. Any representation to the contrary by any party should be ignored.
Akoustis Contact Information:
COMPANY:
Dave Aichele
Akoustis Technologies, Inc.
VP of Business Development
704-997-5735 ext. 106
INVESTORS:
The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
Robert B. Prag, President
858-794-9500
bprag@delmarconsulting.com
Released May 16, 2017