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- Silex Systems (SLX) has completed its project to develop a process for the commercial of high-purity, Zero-Spin Silicon (ZS-Si)
- ZS-Si is a unique form of isotopically enriched silicon required for the fabrication of next-generation processor chips, which have the ability to power silicon-based quantum computers
- The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2022, with initial sales set for 2023
- The first batches of the product will be purchased by Silicon Quantum Computing under an Offtake Agreement that was executed in December 2019, which includes the company making three annual payments of $300,000
- The project is also supported by a $3 million federal government funding grant which was awarded in February 2020
- Silex Systems is up 5.15 per cent, trading at $1.53
Silex Systems (SLX) has completed its project to develop a process for the commercial production of high-purity Zero-Spin Silicon.
The project is being undertaken with partners Silicon Quantum Computing and UNSW Sydney.
The Zero-Spin Silicon uses a variant of the SILEZ laser isotope separate technology which has the potential to produce Zero-Spin Silicon (ZS-Si) efficiently and at scale, to provide a secure supply of this material for the emerging silicon quantum computing market.
ZS-Si is a unique form of isotopically enriched silicon required for the fabrication of next-generation processor chips, which have the ability to power silicon-based quantum computers.
Quantum computers are expected to be thousands of times more powerful than the most advanced conventional computers in operation today, creating opportunities in several industries such as medicine, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and financial systems.
The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2022, with initial sales set for 2023.
The first batches of ZS-Si product will be purchased by Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) under an offtake agreement that was executed in December 2019. This includes SQC making three annual payments of $300,000, two of which have been received to date, as an offset against future purchases of ZS-Si produced by Silex.
The project is also supported by a $3 million federal government funding grant from the CRC-P which was awarded in February 2020.
Should the project be successful, Australia could establish itself as the world-leader in ZS-Si production, creating a new value-added export market.
“We launched this project in December 2019, as part of our strategy to commercialise the SILEX technology across multiple markets. We are currently targeting two key global industries with our core SILEX technology, being the nuclear fuel industry and the emerging quantum computing industry,” said Dr Michael Goldsworthy, Silex CEO.
“This milestone represents an important achievement in the ZS-Si project, to develop a scalable and cost-effective technique to synthesize chemically pure feed material for the ZSSi laser enrichment process.”
The project remains on track to utilise the SILEX LIS technology to produce enriched silicon in the form of ZS-Si with sufficiently high purity.
It also hopes to establish the manufacturing technology and capability to scale-up production as silicon-based quantum computing gains traction globally during the next decade.
Silex Systems is up 5.15 per cent, trading at $1.53 at 12:05 pm AEDT.
