New Report Claims That Electrostatic Discharge Protection Will Key to Extending Moore’s Law

Published: March 17, 2010 Category: Advanced Materials Electronics and Devices

Glen Allen, Virginia: According to a new report from NanoMarkets, a leading industry analyst firm based here, the semiconductor industry's quest to achieve smaller and smaller node sizes will boost the demand for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection products needed to offset the increased vulnerability of devices to static electricity.Indeed, NanoMarkets claims that without more and better ESD products and materials, the semiconductor industry's adherence to Moore's Law will begin to run out of steam.

Additional details about the report, ESD Products and Materials: Markets and Opportunities are available at www.nanomarkets.net.

Key findings of the report:

The consumption of ESD products by the electronics industry will reach more than $480 million ($US) by 2015 as the semiconductor industry will increasingly be on the lookout for more effective ESD protection for both on-chip and in-fab applications and post-fab handling. NanoMarkets believes that any semiconductor firms that fail to do not upgrade their ESD strategies for shrinking circuits will watch their yields drop through the floor.

The need for ESD protection at every level of the electronics value chain will increase significantly which is expected to lead to innovative packaging solutions driving the market for ESD protected boxes and bags up to $940 million by 2015, almost twice the size it is today. At the same time, there will be more need for ESD protection at the end user level wherever chips are exposed for computer maintenance and repair. By 2015, for example, data centers are expected to be buying over $100 million in ESD products, almost three times the value of such purchases today.

By 2015 NanoMarkets projects that ESD materials of all kinds will generate revenues of just under $2.0 billion. However, new materials will be required to meet the more demanding needs for ESD protection since older forms of carbon such as carbon black and graphite may prove ineffective in future electronics manufacturing operations because they tend to produce too many dust particles. By contrast, newer carbon nanotube materials and conductive polymers are expected to grow rapidly in antistatic treatments of all kinds.

By 2015 the entire ESD products market will be worth just over $8 billion. NanoMarkets also notes that the major opportunities will mostly arise in the area of high value-added product. For example, the report notes that one of the fastest growing ESD products will be dissipative boxes, which are generally made of carbon impregnated corrugated or carbon filled molded materials. ESD flooring, and monitors for static charges and fields will also see rapid growth over the forecast period.

About the report:

NanoMarkets' new report, ESD Products and Materials: Markets and Opportunities provides a complete analysis of the commercial opportunities for ESD products and the materials used. The coverage comprises both materials (including the latest based on carbon nanotubes, and conductive polymers) and products (ranging from wrist straps to antistatic furniture to fuel additives). All applications are covered including electronics manufacturing, data centers, packaging, automotive, glass coating, and antistatic additives for both the laundry and fuel.

This report also includes detailed forecasts broken out by materials, applications, and products as well as discussions of the activities of firms including 3M, Agfa, Bayer, Eeonyx, Enthone, H.C. Starck, Hyperion Catalysis, Innospec, Ion Systems (MKS), K and K Advanced Textile Solutions, Nanocyl, Panipol, Staticworx, and TREK.

About NanoMarkets:

NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy and electronics markets created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to electronics materials and related products and applications. Visit www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets' reports and other services.