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Small Times: News about MEMS, Nanotechnology and Microsystems Page 1 of 4 NANOBUSINESS 2003. 1 `i Sln�« L'Aa DWEF INC3 THE NAV�:'_L'H RCVOLLJ'TION • 614 Mt WS iM Syr.,. rr4om THE LAnO14ATr1PY TO THE EIOAi7DROOM. Article URL: http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5911 Its cells may be thin, but Cymbet says they pack a big punch By James R. Dukart Small Times Correspondent April 28, 2003 - Small tech engineers are constantly challenged in their quest to come up with adequate batteries or power supplies for products. Cymbet Corp. of Elk River, Minn., says it has the solution. The three- year-old company manufactures thin-film rechargeable batteries that can be made at thicknesses as low as 5 to 25 microns. Using patented Mark Jenson, Cymbet's low-temperature manufacturing processes, Cymbet's thin-film cells can president and founder be incorporated into any chip design or manufactured directly onto almost any surface, atomically bonded to flexible or rigid substrates - Vital facts about pasted onto the lid of an integrated circuit, for instance, layered onto a Cymbet Corp. printed circuit board or manufactured directly into the casing or shell of any product. Cymbet says its cells are manufactured to last the full life cycle of any product, with the ability to recharge up to 70,000 times using a variety of power sources, from inductive current to radio frequency or solar power. Initial markets include semiconductor manufacturers, medical device companies and producers of microelectronic or nanoscale „ . ,° ,, components and sensors. Bill Priesmeyer, Cymbet's chief executive, listed radio-frequency ID prototype Cymbet's thin-film i cell prototype is built directly on tags, active smart cards and MEMS devices as early commercial a flexible substrate. applications, adding that in the longer term consumer devices from wireless headsets to hearing aids are ripe for thin-film battery cells. "This is an enabling technology for new applications," Priesmeyer said. "It allows batteries to be directly incorporated into any product." The company uses thin-film power supply technology developed over the past 12 years by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It has licensed 15 patents and has another 11 internal patents to cover its cold-temperature fabrication processes. Cymbet said it has signed a two-year agreement with Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. to test the use of its thin-film cells in implantable medical devices, and is working with a large semiconductor manufacturer. Bob Schneider, advanced technology marketing director for microelectronics manufacturer NVE Corp,, is eager to see whether Cymbet's thin-film technology will work with his devices. "The smaller and less power consumption it takes, the better," Schneider said. "The power-on-a-chip business they are pursuing is the Holy Grail." Cymbet is also a member of the Smart Active Labels (SAL) Consortium. SAL spokesman Bruce Rogers said technology such as Cymbet's has almost unlimited possibilities. • "The potential is huge enough for the technology to be pervasive," Rogers said. "It will be used for tracking inventories through a supply chain. In medical applications it can used to monitor http://www.smalltimes.com/print_doc.cfm?doc_id=5911 4/30/2003