KryoTech Inc, the NCR Corp spin-off which is experimenting with freezing chips so that they run faster, has signed a strategic alliance with Intermagnetics General Corp, an applied superconductor and refrigeration specialist from Latham, New York. Intermagnetics, which produces both low temperature and high temperature superconducting magnets, wire and cable, has purchased shares and options in KryoTech amounting to 22% of its outstanding equity, for $5m in cash. It also granted KryoTech exclusive rights to use Intermagnetics’ cooling technology as in relates to computer chip cooling, an agreement that lasts until 2005. The deal gives KryoTech a needed short-term cash infusion, and access to the Intermagnetics technology and that of its Cryogenics Inc and Polycold Systems Inc subsidiaries. Privately- held KryoTech has been developing its chip cooling technology since it was formed in 1996 by a group of NCR Corp executives and engineers, but the technology has yet to see any widespread usage. It claims to be able to increase the performance of standard computer chips by 30 to 35%, by cooling the parts down to minus 40 degrees Celsius. In February, KryoTech demonstrated a thermally accelerated 767MHz Alpha workstation with Digital Equipment Corp at Microsoft Corp’s Windows NT Wizard Symposium. And earlier this month, the company previewed its Cool K6 3D workstation with Advanced Micro Devices Inc at the Cebit show in Hanover, Germany. It has now cranked up the K6 to a clock rate of 400MHz.
