The Delaware Economic Development Office recently announced the selection of two new Advanced Technology Centers (ATC). The Centers will focus on semiconductors and advanced optics.
The Centers are public/private partnerships designed to bolster Delaware's technology base and to create and retain quality high-tech jobs. The State of Delaware is investing $4 million over three years in these two Centers through grants from the 21st Century Fund.
The Center for Nanomachined Surfaces (CNS) will focus on developing and commercializing leading-edge nanomachining applications important to the semiconductor industry. The primary technical goal of the Center is to achieve the world's highest-precision polished, or nanomachined, photomask surfaces, ultimately affecting every integrated circuit made. For more information on CNS, visit their website at http://nanosurf.ece.udel.edu.
The Applied Optics Center of Delaware, Inc. will focus on developing new applications for laser technology. Initially, the Center will concentrate on laser spectroscopy technology and laser diode-based devices. The focus capitalizes on the unique offering of "blue" laser materials and devices developed by DuPont over a 20-year period and spun out into Altos, Inc.
The creation of the ATC program is part of a comprehensive, technology-based economic development strategy led by the Delaware Economic Development Office. Last year, Delaware announced commitments of $7 million to fund three other ATCs --The Fraunhofer Resource Center - Delaware, the Advanced Technology Center for Medical Devices, and the University of Delaware Center for Agricultural Biotechnology.