Crocus, RUSNANO Appoint CEO of Russian Manufacturing Joint Venture

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Crocus Technology, a leading developer of MRAM technology, and RUSNANO, a premier nano-technology investment fund, today announced the appointment of Boris Omarov as CEO of their manufacturing joint venture, Crocus Nano Electronics (CNE), an advanced MRAM manufacturing facility under development in Russia.

"The appointment of Boris is a key step, and underscores our commitment to building a world-class MRAM manufacturing facility," said Bertrand F. Cambou, executive chairman of Crocus Technology.  "We are fortunate to have someone of Boris' caliber and experience, and we are confident his leadership will help ensure the future success of CNE."

"Boris brings the right mix of technology experience and familiarity with Russian business infrastructure to make this an optimal fit for CNE," said Dmitriy Lisenkov, managing director of RUSNANO.

With more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Omarov most recently served as senior director of sales and marketing in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at OSRAM, the largest global producer of LED products. Omarov holds a master's degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward, and a PhD from Moscow State Institute of Electronics Equipment Manufacturing.

The Russia-based CNE facility will utilize Crocus' technology to create the first dedicated magnetic memory wafer fab in the world capable of high volume manufacturing of MRAM devices on 300mm wafers with 90nm and 65nm feature sizes. The factory will add MRAM specific processing layers to standard CMOS foundry wafers. The production facility is scheduled to be in operation in 2013 and will be capable of producing up to 500 wafers per week.

About Crocus Technology

Crocus is a leading developer of magnetic semiconductor technology for dense, non-volatile, high-speed, scalable chip solutions for general and special purpose applications. The company's TAS innovation originated in the Grenoble-based Spintec laboratory, a world-leading R&D center in Spintronics, affiliated with French national laboratories CEA and CNRS. The company will offer discrete, high density memory chips that target a wide variety of telecommunication, networking, storage, computing and handheld applications. The company also licenses its technology for both standalone and embedded chip applications. Crocus' technology is covered by a comprehensive patent portfolio. Find Crocus at: www.crocustechnology.com.

About RUSNANO

RUSNANO's mission is to develop the Russian nanotechnology industry through co-investment in nanotechnology projects with substantial economic potential or social benefit. RUSNANO was established in March 2011 as an open joint-stock company through the reorganization of state corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, which was founded in 2007. With this reorganization, the establishment of nanotechnology infrastructure and training of nanotechnology specialists, which was formerly conducted by the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, is now entrusted to the newly created non-commercial Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs. The government of the Russian Federation owns 100 percent of the shares in RUSNANO. Anatoly Chubais is chairman of the Executive Board of RUSNANO. For more information, please visit www.rusnano.com

SOURCE Crocus Technology