Nobody had achieved it before. It is a problem that is upsetting the entire semiconductor industry. How to get chips smaller ones that allow us to design the new generation of electronic devices? The solution was proposed by a doctoral thesis, that of engineer Josep Montanyà: designing microrelays with moving parts, using the same technology that is used today in airbags, projectors and inkjet printers.
In 2002 he patented the idea. Shortly after, he joined businessman Manuel Conde to materialize it and found Baolab Microsystems, the company with which they will try to seduce the market. They have been perfecting the invention for several years: the microrelay, a tiny switch measuring between 50 and 100 microns that activates the operation of the chips and it moves freely inside thanks to MEMS technology (micro-electro-mechanical systems, in its acronym in English). This allows it to reduce its size by 100 times and its voltage by 10 times compared to conventional relays. Their big bet will be to introduce them into the microchips of next-generation mobile phones.
"In three years, mobile phones will have to operate in up to 20 different modes and multiple bands. DVB-H for television, UMTS, HSDPA, GPS... Each terminal will need hundreds of chips additional; It would not be viable due to cost and volume. The only solution is to integrate into the chips microrelays that reduce their size and voltage," explains Montanyà. This telecommunications engineer has dedicated the last six years of his life to perfecting the product. "All the big companies, like Texas Instruments, have tried to obtain something similar, but at the moment no they've managed to downsize enough."
New laboratory
Baolab Microsystems now has seven employees. They have just opened a laboratory in Terrassa (Barcelona) to undertake the last phase of reliability testing. For some applications the microrelay must last a million cycles, that is, a million switchings or times the switch is activated. chip. Today no prototype meets such levels of demand. They study other possible applications in radars, power supplies or compact antennas, but telephony is the industry with the greatest needs.
In 2010 they will be launched on the market. According to Manuel Conde, CEO of Baolab, the opportunity is enormous. They could install the microrelay en masse in any low-voltage electronic device, from PDAs and laptops to MP4 players and POS terminals. "We have spoken to many companies in the United States and Europe. There is a lot of interest, they just want to see the completely finished product."
Rough figures appear in your business plan. From 250.000 euros that they expect to bill in 2010, they will take off to 30 million in 2012. "These are conservative calculations, it seems impossible to make that leap, but it is totally realistic," says Conde.
However, two years in the technology industry is a world and new solutions could unseat the advantages of the microrelay. The risk is not negligible: eight years will have passed from the founding of Baolab, at the beginning of 2003, until a reliable product was obtained. "In this sector, it is a reasonable time, even fast," explains Montanyà. "There are companies with large R&D departments that are now beginning to release technologies that they had been developing for 10 years." Its most powerful advantage will undoubtedly be the cost. A microrelay for mobile phones could cost as little as five cents.
Those who have not hesitated for a moment have been the investors. In total, Baolab has raised 3,1 million euros of financing between venture capital entities (HighGrowth Partners) and public funds for the creation of companies such as Neotec, CIDEM and Enisa (National Innovation Company). Last November they received the innovation award among 219 candidates, awarded by Enisa. Now it's time to convince the global market.