SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Lasarray-Westinghouse Accord Could Prompt Sales of Chip-Making System

Lasarray Corp. of Irvine has reached an agreement with Westinghouse Electric Corp. that could result in the sale of up to 10 Lasarray computer chip-making systems, which sell for $4.2 million apiece.

Tim Fitzgibbons, president of tiny Lasarray, said he was “very optimistic” about the deal with the Pittsburgh-based electrical giant, under which Westinghouse has committed to buy one Lasaray machine and market the system to government agencies along with its own electronics engineering and support services.

The Lasarray machine is a miniature semiconductor design and fabrication unit that can be installed at a customer’s location. It consists of a computerized chip design system called a silicon compiler and a production system that uses laser beams to etch circuits onto a silicon wafer.

The system cannot produce chips in high volume, nor can it produce advanced designs that require extremely narrow circuit widths. But Fitzgibbons said the transportable unit is ideal for making quick protoypes of specialized chips that can later be produced in volume.

Westinghouse, he said, expects to find a market for the system among government agencies--such as the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency--which need to design replacements for electronic parts that are no longer manufactured, or to develop specialized systems quickly.