Irvine Sensors and IBM Reach Agreement on Stackable Chips

Irvine Sensors Corp. in Costa Mesa, a manufacturer of memory chips that stack on top of each other, said Monday that it has signed an expanded licensing and manufacturing agreement with IBM.

Under the deal, the computer giant has licensed Irvine Sensors’ technology for its own use and will manufacture it for other parties.

The agreement expands an earlier deal announced in June to include a license for Irvine Sensors’ so-called Short Stack, which piles up four to 10 chips in a space that is the size of a sugar cube.

Irvine Sensors officials said demand for the chip-stacking technology has exceeded expectations. The company, which has 50 employees, said it expects gradual hiring as a result of the agreement.