On Feb. 6, 2006, Hitachi, Ltd. announced it now has the world's smallest and thinnest contactless IC chip at 0.15 x 0.15 millimeter (mm), 7.5 micrometer (µm). The distance between each circuit element was reduced by using SOI technology, which has an insulating layer in the substrate, instead of the Si (silicon) only substrate currently being used.
This significant decrease in size increases the number of chips which can be fabricated on a single wafer, thus increasing productivity by more than four times according to Hitachi. Compared to the current product which was used at the 2005 World Exposition held in Aichi, Japan, productivity is increased by about 10 times.
Hitachi hopes that this new technology will open the door to new applications for the contactless IC chips.
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