December 20, 2018 -- Weebit Nano (ASX: WBT), the Israel-based semiconductor company seeking to develop and commercialise the next generation of memory technology, today announced an extension of the agreement with its partner Leti, the French research institute recognised as a global leader in the field of micro-electronics, to enable the next step to commercialisation of Weebit’s ReRAM memory technology.

This agreement extension includes adapting the production process of Weebit’s ReRAM technology to 300mm wafers, which are the common wafers used in production fabs, and using the 28nm technology as the vehicle.

Weebit Nano and Leti initiated the joint development program in September 2016. They have since made rapid progress in developing Weebit’s technology. The strength of this partnership, in combination with Weebit’s unique SiOx technology and its highly-talented team, has enabled technology development at a substantially faster rate and lower cost than many other companies.

Weebit and Leti are focused now on preparing Weebit’s SiOx ReRAM technology to transfer to a production fab as part of the commercialisation process. The development up to now has been done on 200mm wafers using 40nm technology as the vehicle, which has enabled the development to be done at a much faster pace and lower cost. This now allows Weebit to quickly adapt these 200mm processes to 300mm wafers, which are most common in production fabs, and move to 28nm technology as the vehicle.

Analysis has shown that Weebit’s ReRAM cells that have been developed on the 40nm vehicle, can actually fit much smaller geometries, well below 28nm. The move to a 28nm vehicle is expected to improve Weebit’s ReRAM cells and enable them to fit even the smallest geometries being used in the market today.

Commenting on the extended agreement, Coby Hanoch, CEO of Weebit Nano, said: “Weebit is extremely pleased with its collaboration with Leti, and excited to start the move to production-fab processes. As far as we know, no non-volatile technology other than ReRAM works on geometries smaller than 20nm, so our ReRAM memories are very attractive for companies using leading-edge designs, including leading Artificial Intelligence applications.

“When Weebit was initially looking for a partner before listing on the ASX, the Company assessed all of the major research institutes in the world and decided that Leti was the best fit. We believe that the speed of our combined development progress, and the strength of our relationship, is a clear vindication of our choice of partner.”

Pascale Berruyer, Head of Silicon Component Division at LETI added: “LETI is very excited to extend its collaboration with Weebit and continue developing a unique memory solution for Internet of Things and low power applications. Scaling the technology to 300mm is critical to establish its maturity and compatibility with leading-edge manufacturing capabilities, and LETI will support Weebit in that direction using its state-of-the-art 300mm facilities that we’re continuously improving.”

The Company expects that this commercialisation process will be completed in the fourth quarter of the 2019 calendar year.