bismuth breakthrough for cooling chips

Auzex is by far the best exposure to bismuth of any stock listed on the ASX. This because of the high grade Mo-Bi Kingsgate Project.
The global supply of bismuth is tight and current global production is only about US$50m p.a total. New demand such as the semi conductor industry would certainly require new bismuth deposits and production.
Problem is not many people have bismuth deposits that are near production.

The article reminds me of the transition of tin, when it started to replace lead in electronic solder.
It took tin out of obscurity and in 2 years the price has gone from US$7,000 - US$16,000p/t. Keep your eye on AZX’s Khartoum Tin Project. Results due early Feb.

Article below.

Climate Change
(Yes it does)

Thursday 10 January 2008
Bismuth breakthrough for cooling chips
LONDON (Metal-Pages) 10-Jan-08. Semiconductor engineers, who have in recent years seen their quest to build ever-faster chips frustrated by the ravages of excess heat, have found a solution in bismuth telluride. US-based Nextreme Inc., a spinoff of research institute RTI International, has developed a technology it says can lower temperatures in only the specific areas of chips that get too hot, allowing for more cost-efficient cooling than has been possible before. It says the technology is easier for semiconductor manufacturers to implement than other approaches because it can be integrated into current manufacturing processes.
"Heat's a system killer, and it's actually become one of the biggest problems, especially in small devices. This could be a way to fix that," says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group of San Jose, Calif.
"We've solved it," says Paul Magill, Nextreme's vice president of marketing and business development, of the heat problem. "This is a world-changing idea that doesn't require the world to change."
Nextreme unveiled its product in October and has been providing engineering samples to potential customers. It hasn't signed any licensing deals yet, but Magill says the company is in "in-depth discussions with virtually every major semi manufacturer in the U.S.," and is near a deal with a major packaging house to demonstrate the technology.
Using nanotechnology, Nextreme found a way to apply thermal bismuth telluride only in the places that get too hot. It puts a thin film of the material into copper pillar bumps, which are an increasingly popular method for attaching chips to their packages. The bumps themselves aid the cause of cooling, but the thermal material also conducts heat away from the hot spot.
Nextreme says it can reduce temperatures by as much as 60 degrees Celsius, though hot spots typically only need 5 to 15 degrees of cooling.


Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is a grey powder that is a compound of bismuth and tellurium also known as Bismuth(III) telluride