| 1. |
Who is Shocking Technologies? |
| |
Shocking Technologies is a key innovator and supplier of Voltage Switchable Dielectric™ (VSD™) materials. VSD™ materials are utilized for embedded electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and semiconductor packages. |
| |
|
| 2. |
Where is Shocking Technologies located? |
| |
Shocking Technologies is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA. |
| |
|
| 3. |
Who do we contact at Shocking Technologies? |
| |
Please contact Shocking Technologies at info@shockingtech.com or sales@shockingtech.com as applicable. |
| |
|
| 4. |
Who are our investors? |
| |
Shocking Technologies is a privately held company with investments from prominent entities and individuals, including ARCH Venture Partners, ATA Ventures, Hercules Technology Growth, and Littelfuse, Inc. |
| |
|
| 5. |
What is XStatic™? |
| |
XStatic™ is a brand name for a family of VSD™ material formulations offered for ESD protection in PCBs and substrates for semiconductor packages. The XStatic™ technology and its applications are covered by numerious patents and patent applications filed by Shocking Technologies. More information on XStatic™ materials can be found at Design Support and by contacting us at sales@shockingtech.com. |
| |
|
| 6. |
How do I procure XStatic™ material? |
| |
XStatic™ material can be procured directly from Shocking Technologies or our licensees. Contact us at sales@shockingtech.com. |
| |
|
| 7. |
How do we certify our products? |
| |
We provide a Certificate of Compliance with all XStatic™ VSD™ formulations that are shipped to our customers and licensees. |
| |
|
| 8. |
What is a Voltage Switchable Dielectric™ (VSD™) material and why is it important? |
| |
A VSD™ material is a polymer nano-composite that behaves like an insulator (dielectric) during normal circuit operation and becomes conductive when the voltage across the VSD™ material increases beyond a predefined threshold voltage. The voltage switches back to an insulator again after the voltage drops below the threshold. This unique property, coupled with the ability to tailor the response of the material, opens up several new areas in electronics. VSD™ materials are commercialized under various Shocking Technologies trademarks, including XStatic™ and XSeed™. |
| |
|
| 9. |
What is the application space? |
| |
The first applications for VSD™ materials focus on protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) events that adversely affect electronic devices. Because of the unique properties of the material, subsequent applications will usher in new manufacturing processes as well as novel product designs. |
| |
|
| 10. |
What benefits do VSD™ materials provide? |
| |
VSD™ material provides global protection from a high voltage ESD event for all components designed with access to the protective layer. In addition, it reduces time-to-market and development costs by eliminating discrete surge suppressors, simplifying routing and design, freeing up board real-estate, and reducing design respins. VSD™ material also offers semiconductor manufacturers the potential of improving signal integrity or reducing on-chip ESD protection when these formulations are embedded in the substrate. Overall, VSD™ materials provide an opportunity to enhance the manufacturer’s brand value by enabling a more reliable product. |
| |
|
| 11. |
Is XStatic™ a green material? |
| |
Yes. The XStatic™ formulations comply with environmental directives that require the elimination of numerous toxic substances from semiconductor manufacturing. |
| |
|
| 12. |
What test standards are employed? |
| |
We test our formulations in accordance with the EN 61000-4-2:1995 standard for ESD Immunity Testing. Our XStatic™-100 VSD™ materials pass both Level 4 Contact and Air Discharge modes (8,000V). Reliability testing is performed in accordance with JEDEC standards. |
| |
|
| 13. |
What type of design support do we provide? |
| |
Our design and applications team works with new customers to ensure successful implementation of our product. Support ranges from technical guidance to in-house redesign depending upon need.
|
| |
|
| 14 |
What is XSeed™? |
| |
XSeed™ is a brand name for a family of VSD™ material formulations commercialized by Shocking Technologies for a wide range of applications, such as electroplating and material deposition during the semiconductor manufacturing process (including chip, packaging and substrate manufacturing), and ESD protection of electronic devices and electronic components in which the XSeed™ material is integrated. By taking advantage of the ability of an XSeed™ material to become conductive in response to a voltage that exceeds its characteristic voltage, electroplating and material deposition can be controlled accurately (e.g., in terms of physical area covered, structure thickness and exposure time), and the underlying ESD protection of the XSeed material can be later used for device-level and/or system-level ESD protection. The XSeed™ technology and its applications are covered by numerious patents and patent applications filed by Shocking Technologies. More information on XStatic™ materials can be found by contacting us at sales@shockingtech.com. |
