Atomera Inc (ATOM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Atomera's first quarter fiscal year 2024 update call. I'd like to remind everyone that this call and webinar are being recorded, and a replay will be available on Atomera's IR website for one year. I'm Mike Bishop with the company's Investor Relations.

大家好，歡迎參加 Atomera 2024 財年第一季更新電話會議。我想提醒大家，本次電話會議和網路研討會正在錄製中，並將在 Atomera 的 IR 網站上提供為期一年的重播。我是公司投資人關係部的麥克‧畢肖普 (Mike Bishop)。

As in prior quarters, we are using Zoom, and we will follow a similar presentation format with participants in a listen-only mode. We will open with prepared remarks from Scott Bibaud, Atomera's President and CEO; and Frank Laurencio, Atomera's CFO. Then, we will open the call to questions. If you are joining by telephone, you may follow a slide presentation to accompany our remarks on the Events and Presentations section of our Investor Relations page on our website.

與前幾季一樣，我們正在使用 Zoom，並且我們將遵循類似的演示格式，讓參與者處於只聽模式。我們將以 Atomera 總裁兼執行長 Scott Bibaud 準備好的演講作為開場；和 Atomera 財務長 Frank Laurencio。然後，我們將開始提問。如果您透過電話參加，您可以觀看幻燈片演示，並附上我們在我們網站投資者關係頁面的活動和演示部分的評論。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during today's call, we will make forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, whether in prepared remarks or during the Q&A session, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，在今天的電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述，無論是在準備好的發言中還是在問答環節中，都受到固有風險和不確定性的影響。

These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Risk Factors section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically in the company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 15, 2024. Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, Atomera disclaims any obligation to update or make revisions to such forward-looking statements contained herein or elsewhere to reflect changes in expectations with regards to those events, conditions, and circumstances.

這些風險和不確定性在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件的「風險因素」部分中有詳細說明，特別是在公司於2024 年2 月15 日向美國證券交易委員會提交的10-K 表格年度報告中。除非聯邦證券法另有要求，Atomera 不承擔更新或修改本文或其他地方包含的此類前瞻性聲明的義務，以反映對這些事件、條件和情況的預期變化。

Also, please note that during this call, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today's press release, which is also posted to our website.

另請注意，在本次電話會議中，我們將討論SEC G 條例所定義的非GAAP 財務指標。新聞稿還包括發佈到我們的網站。

Now, I would like to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Scott Bibaud. Scott, go ahead.

現在，我想將電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長 Scott Bibaud。斯科特，繼續吧。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Atomera's update call covering the first quarter of 2024. The past three months have seen more customer activity progressing to the proposal stage than any in our history. This unprecedented level of interest in our technology as a result of announced customer commercialization, widespread recognition of the efficacy of our MSC technology, and detailed solutions to these issues faced in today's complex transistors. I will talk more about customer progress after a short comment on the semiconductor market.

下午好，歡迎參加 Atomera 的 2024 年第一季最新情況電話會議。在過去的三個月裡，進入提案階段的客戶活動比我們歷史上任何時候都多。由於宣布客戶商業化、對我們 MSC 技術功效的廣泛認可以及對當今複雜晶體管所面臨的這些問題的詳細解決方案，人們對我們的技術產生了前所未有的興趣。在對半導體市場進行簡短評論後，我將更多地談論客戶進展。

This year, we see the semiconductor industry modestly growing led by companies executing in the AI space. The pressure on leading-edge logic fabs to advance their latest nodes with higher performance per watt is intense. Most of the growth in the industry is happening here as well as in DRAM, which is snapping back strongly after contracting throughout 2023.

今年，我們看到半導體產業在人工智慧領域的公司的帶動下溫和成長。領先的邏輯工廠面臨巨大的壓力，要求其最新節點具有更高的每瓦效能。該行業的大部分成長都發生在此處以及 DRAM 領域，後者在 2023 年全年收縮後正在強勁反彈。

In addition, Consumer Cellular is expected to show modest growth. Automotive, with its associated power and analog component companies, have softened as they work through inventory and see new competition from China, although the consensus seems to be that the outlook for the second half of the year is better.

此外，消費者蜂窩業務預計將呈現溫和成長。汽車產業及其相關的電源和模擬元件公司在清理庫存和看到來自中國的新競爭的過程中已經走軟，儘管人們普遍認為今年下半年的前景會更好。

What does all this mean for Atomera? We are a company that benefits from modest capacity utilization at our IDM and foundry customers so they can run R&D wafers. We continue to see this favorable environment for the medium term, except in the bleeding edge where capacity is tight, offset by a strong desire to improve performance yield and cost of those new manufacturing processes. Right now, industry dynamics and customer interest indicate a strong willingness to invest.

這一切對 Atomera 意味著什麼？我們是一家受益於 IDM 和代工客戶適度產能利用率的公司，因此他們可以運行研發晶圓。從中期來看，我們繼續看到這種有利的環境，但在產能緊張的前沿領域除外，這被提高新製造流程的性能產量和成本的強烈願望所抵消。目前，行業動態和客戶興趣表明了強烈的投資意願。

Now let's review customer activity. As you know, our first announced customer on track towards production is STMicroelectronics, who are currently incorporating MST into the design of their next-generation smart power products. We continue to work closely with them on this effort, and their development progress is on track to a production release, which will result in royalty revenue for Atomera.

現在讓我們回顧一下客戶活動。如您所知，我們宣布的第一個即將投入生產的客戶是意法半導體，該公司目前正在將 MST 納入其下一代智慧電源產品的設計中。我們將繼續與他們在這項工作上密切合作，他們的開發進度正朝著產品發布的方向發展，這將為 Atomera 帶來版稅收入。

Smart Power products belong to the analog, power, and discrete MEMS and sensors, our APMS Group, which ST reports publicly. In their recent earnings announcement, ST reported $2.2 billion in APMS revenue for the first quarter of this year, so the potential of this business is very large.

Smart Power產品屬於類比、功率、分離式MEMS和感測器，我們的APMS組，ST公開報告。ST在最近的財報中公佈，今年第一季APMS營收為22億美元，可見該業務的潛力非常大。

As I've made clear, our first priority as a company is to help ST get the highest possible performance out of MST and to get it into production as quickly as possible. Our next priority is to put other customers under that same path to production, and I believe we're making long strides in that direction.

正如我已經明確指出的，作為一家公司，我們的首要任務是幫助 ST 從 MST 中獲得盡可能最高的性能，並儘快將其投入生產。我們的下一個優先事項是讓其他客戶走上同樣的生產道路，我相信我們正在朝這個方向邁出一大步。

In the last three months, we have submitted a historically high number of proposals for licenses and JVAs, and these have been for both Phase 1 and Phase 3 customers. Although none of them have closed yet or they would have been announced, we are currently taking a lot more shots on goal than has historically been the case.

在過去三個月中，我們提交了數量創歷史新高的許可證和合資企業提案，這些提案都是針對第一階段和第三階段的客戶。儘管它們都還沒有關閉或已經宣布，但我們目前的射門次數比歷史上的情況要多得多。

That said, we still haven't found our way into JDA1's net. We have proven and they acknowledge that MST can overcome every challenge they've given us. From past experience, we know the decision by a BU to move forward with MST is often a matter of intersecting with the customers move to a new process or node. So I believe that our continued discussions with JDA1 will ultimately bear fruit.

也就是說，我們仍然沒有找到進入 JDA1 網路的方法。我們已經證明，他們也承認 MST 可以克服他們給我們的每一個挑戰。根據過去的經驗，我們知道 BU 推進 MST 的決定通常與客戶遷移到新流程或節點有關。所以我相信我們與 JDA1 的持續討論最終會取得成果。

With JDA2, we have gotten our first peak at data, and it looks good. Although the full battery of testing has not been completed yet, early results look promising, with Atomera providing significant improvements in some of the customers' most critical requirements. If the final results, including a much wider set of specs, look equally good, we hope to put a license in place and start development towards production.

借助 JDA2，我們獲得了第一個數據峰值，看起來不錯。儘管完整的測試尚未完成，但早期結果看起來很有希望，Atomera 在一些客戶最關鍵的需求方面提供了顯著的改進。如果最終結果（包括更廣泛的規格）看起來一樣好，我們希望獲得許可並開始開發生產。

Likewise, at our previously announced fabless licensee, DOE planning and wafer starts are ramping up to determine if MST will be included in their next-generation RF products. If so, this would be another large license and royalty opportunity for Atomera, and we believe it would influence other RF SOI customers to license MST.

同樣，在我們之前宣布的無晶圓廠被許可方，美國能源部 (DOE) 的規劃和晶圓開工正在加快，以確定 MST 是否將包含在其下一代 RF 產品中。如果是這樣，這將是 Atomera 的另一個巨大的許可和特許權使用機會，我們相信這將影響其他 RF SOI 客戶獲得 MST 許可。

Our foundry licensee just completed a new round of MST CAD and is interested in the possible incorporation into one of their next-generation process nodes as well. They're seeking approval to start a new set of wafers as we speak.

我們的鑄造廠授權商剛剛完成了新一輪的 MST CAD，並對可能納入其下一代製程節點之一感興趣。正如我們所說，他們正在尋求批准開始生產一組新的晶圓。

As you can tell, each of our licensees is making an effort to incorporate MST into their upcoming technology releases, but we also have proposals out with multiple companies that are not yet licensees. The proposals fall into our four focus areas, except one, which is an entirely new high potential area.

如您所知，我們的每個被授權者都在努力將 MST 納入其即將發布的技術版本中，但我們也向多家尚未成為被授權者的公司提出了提案。這些提案屬於我們的四個重點領域，但其中一個例外，這是一個全新的高潛力領域。

During the last quarter, we've had substantive discussions about working together with almost all the major companies in the advanced node and memory area. In the advanced node segment, we are offering a variety of solutions to the challenges of making the incredibly complex Gate-All-Around structures used at the bleeding edge.

在上個季度，我們就與先進節點和記憶體領域的幾乎所有主要公司合作進行了實質討論。在先進節點領域，我們提供各種解決方案來應對製造前沿所使用的極其複雜的環柵結構的挑戰。

The silicon data and TCAD simulations we are using to validate these solutions are constantly being refined to provide more detail, which is critical to winning these customers. In addition, we continue to secure patents around structures in this quickly evolving area. As an example, just this week, we were notified that our patent titled Gate-All-Around device, including a superlattice, has been allowed and will formally issue next month.

我們用於驗證這些解決方案的晶片數據和 TCAD 模擬不斷得到完善，以提供更多細節，這對於贏得這些客戶至關重要。此外，我們繼續在這個快速發展的領域獲得有關結構的專利。舉個例子，就在本週，我們接到通知，我們的名為 Gate-All-Around 設備（包括超晶格）的專利已獲得批准，並將於下個月正式發布。

In memory, we are focusing on providing performance upgrades to DRAM to meet the needs of AI while still delivering on the cost requirements that dominate this segment. It's a tricky balance. But in memories, MST not only improves performance, but it also can lower the cost of the chip itself, making the cost benefit analysis very favorable.

在記憶體方面，我們專注於為 DRAM 提供效能升級，以滿足人工智慧的需求，同時仍滿足主導該細分市場的成本要求。這是一個棘手的平衡。但在記憶體方面，MST不僅可以提高效能，還可以降低晶片本身的成本，使得成本效益分析非常有利。

In the RF SOI segment, we have customers who are running or planning to run wafers at most of the largest manufacturers. And our collaborations with major players in the power semiconductor space also continues.

在 RF SOI 領域，我們的客戶正在或計劃在大多數最大的製造商中運行晶圓。我們與功率半導體領域主要參與者的合作也持續進行。

I do understand investors' frustration that all the good work happening inside is not generating business announcements on the outside. We believe that will happen in time. Our focus has been on making these proposals turn into revenue, and I think we're making good progress. We expect to make announcements in the coming quarters in several of these areas.

我確實理解投資者的挫折感，因為內部發生的所有良好工作都沒有在外部產生業務公告。我們相信這會及時發生。我們的重點是使這些提案轉化為收入，我認為我們正在取得良好進展。我們預計將在未來幾季在其中幾個領域發佈公告。

Before I bring this presentation to a close, I want to let you know about a market segment that represents an entirely new source of IP-protected potential revenue for Atomera beyond our main channel of business. As part of our ongoing R&D, we have developed new variations of our silicon lattice films, which have opened additional potential for us in the fast-growing sector of compound semiconductors.

在結束本次演講之前，我想讓您了解一個細分市場，該細分市場代表了 Atomera 在我們的主要業務管道之外受智慧財產權保護的全新潛在收入來源。作為我們持續研發的一部分，我們開發了矽晶格薄膜的新變體，這為我們在快速成長的化合物半導體領域開闢了額外的潛力。

We are exploring a number of potential applications, including those involving silicon carbide, gallium nitride, silicon germanium, and other compounds that could have applications in enhancing AI chips and quantum computing. I will highlight just one we are working on: gallium nitride, or GaN, which is a wide-band-gap material that can be used to produce devices capable of operating at higher temperatures, frequencies, and voltages than those based on pure silicon.

我們正在探索許多潛在的應用，包括碳化矽、氮化鎵、矽鍺和其他可用於增強人工智慧晶片和量子運算的化合物。我將重點介紹我們正在研究的一個：氮化鎵（GaN），它是一種寬頻隙材料，可用於生產能夠在比純矽基元件更高的溫度、頻率和電壓下工作的裝置。

The market for GaN and power electronics is growing rapidly, dominated by mobile and consumer applications and with a very bright future in automotive. Many of you may recently have switched to a much smaller, faster wall charger, and that was likely enabled by GaN. Our recent report by the Yield Group said that the power GaN market grew by 41% in 2023 and will likely increase at a CAGR of 46% over the next five years, potentially exceeding $2 billion per year by 2028.

GaN 和電力電子市場正在快速成長，以行動和消費應用為主，在汽車領域有著非常光明的前景。你們中的許多人最近可能已經改用更小、更快的壁式充電器，而這很可能是由 GaN 實現的。Yield Group 最近的報告稱，功率 GaN 市場到 2023 年將成長 41%，未來五年複合年增長率可能達到 46%，到 ​​2028 年每年可能超過 20 億美元。

Compound semiconductor materials have traditionally been difficult to manufacture due to crystal defects, some of which can be caused by a mismatch with non-native substrates. The mismatch creates stresses at the interface which propagate through the wafer, causing cracks and other defects that have limited both the size and the yield of wafers, making economical manufacturing difficult.

化合物半導體材料傳統上由於晶體缺陷而難以製造，其中一些缺陷可能是由於與非天然基板的不匹配引起的。這種不匹配會在界面處產生應力，並透過晶圓傳播，從而導致裂縫和其他缺陷，從而限制了晶圓的尺寸和產量，從而使經濟製造變得困難。

Atomera's MST film can relax or de-strain the interface between two different crystal latices, and we've been filing a number of patents over the years related to this effect. Recently, we began working with one of the world's leading authorities in compound semiconductor fabrication, Professor Edwin Pinar at Texas State University, to investigate how MST could help solve this dawning manufacturing problem.

Atomera 的 MST 薄膜可以鬆弛或消除兩種不同晶體乳膠之間界面的張力，多年來我們已經申請了許多與此效果相關的專利。最近，我們開始與世界領先的化合物半導體製造權威之一、德克薩斯州立大學的 Edwin Pinar 教授合作，研究 MST 如何幫助解決這個迫在眉睫的製造問題。

A material which can significantly improve the quality of GaN wafers and potentially enable them to be manufactured at a larger size is a game changer that the industry is currently seeking. Early experiments growing GaN wafers using MST have shown very promising results. While we still have work to do, if our current trajectory continues, we should be able to enter the market and generate revenue much more quickly than in our traditional engagements with semiconductor customers, potentially even before the end of this year.

一種能夠顯著提高 GaN 晶圓品質並有可能實現更大尺寸製造的材料是業界目前正在尋求的遊戲規則改變者。使用 MST 生長 GaN 晶圓的早期實驗已經顯示出非常有希望的結果。雖然我們仍有工作要做，但如果我們目前的軌跡繼續下去，我們應該能夠比我們與半導體客戶的傳統合作更快地進入市場並產生收入，甚至可能在今年年底之前。

There's a lot happening at Atomera these days. In addition to all the customer commercial activity and the potential expansion into the compound semiconductor space, we have been evaluating a large number of potential R&D foundry partners, recruiting new marketing talent, working on some critical partnerships, and becoming more active in the CHIPS and Science Act.

這些天 Atomera 發生了很多事情。除了所有客戶商業活動和化合物半導體領域的潛在擴張之外，我們還評估了大量潛在的研發代工合作夥伴，招募新的行銷人才，致力於一些關鍵的合作夥伴關係，並在晶片和半導體領域變得更加活躍。

We are very optimistic about the prospects opening before us, any one of which could take us over the top as a company. Our ST engagement has the potential to form the base of revenue for our company, and each of the areas I've outlined can grow on top of that base. Compound semiconductors would represent a new segment for us, one with much faster time to revenues; while our traditional business continues to have a massive TAM rich with opportunities for MST.

我們對擺在我們面前的前景非常樂觀，任何一個都可以讓我們成為一家公司的頂峰。我們的 ST 參與有可能構成我們公司的收入基礎，我概述的每個領域都可以在此基礎上成長。化合物半導體對我們來說將代表一個新的領域，一個實現收入的時間要快得多的領域；而我們的傳統業務仍然擁有大量 TAM，其中充滿了 MST 的機會。

Although we're advancing on many fronts, our team remains laser-focused on converting these excellent prospects into licenses that will make Atomera into a profitable and diversified technology leader in the semiconductor industry. Thanks for taking the journey with us.

儘管我們在許多方面取得了進展，但我們的團隊仍然專注於將這些良好的前景轉化為許可證，從而使 Atomera 成為半導體行業中盈利且多元化的技術領導者。感謝您與我們一起旅行。

Now, Frank will review our financials.

現在，弗蘭克將審查我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Scott. At the close of the market today, we issued a press release announcing our results for the first quarter of 2024, and this slide shows our summary financials.

謝謝你，斯科特。今天收盤時，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布 2024 年第一季的業績，這張投影片顯示了我們的財務摘要。

Our GAAP net loss for the three-months ended March 31, 2024, was $4.8 million, or $0.19 per share, compared to a net loss of $5 million, or $0.21 per share, in the first quarter of 2023. In Q4 of 2023, our GAAP net loss was $4.6 million, which was $0.18 per share.

截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的三個月，我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 480 萬美元，即每股 0.19 美元，而 2023 年第一季的淨虧損為 500 萬美元，即每股 0.21 美元。2023 年第四季度，我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 460 萬美元，即每股 0.18 美元。

Revenues were $18,000 in Q1 of 2024 compared to $550,000 in Q4 and zero in Q1 of 2023. GAAP operating expenses were $5 million in Q1 of 2024, which was a decrease of approximately $148,000 from $5.2 million of OpEx in Q1 2023. This decrease in operating expense was mainly due to a $178,000 decline in R&D expenses, reflecting the closure of our outsourced foundry, TSI Semiconductors, at the end of January.

2024 年第一季的營收為 18,000 美元，而第四季的營收為 550,000 美元，2023 年第一季的營收為零。2024 年第一季的 GAAP 營運支出為 500 萬美元，比 2023 年第一季的 520 萬美元營運支出減少約 14.8 萬美元。營運費用的減少主要是由於研發費用減少了 178,000 美元，反映出我們的外包代工廠 TSI Semiconductors 在 1 月底關閉。

General and administrative expenses increased by $69,000, and sales and marketing expense decreased by $39,000. Sequentially, our GAAP operating expenses decreased by $300,000 from Q4 2023 to $5 million in Q1, reflecting a $134,000 decrease in R&D expenses also due to the R&D -- also due to the TSI closure, a decline of $102,000 in sales and marketing expense due to lower headcount, and G&A expense declining by $64,000.

一般和管理費用增加了 69,000 美元，銷售和行銷費用減少了 39,000 美元。隨後，我們的GAAP 營運費用從2023 年第四季度下降了30 萬美元，至第一季的500 萬美元，反映出研發費用減少了134,000 美元，這也是由於研發- 同樣是由於TSI 關閉，銷售和行銷費用減少了102,000 美元員工人數減少，一般管理費用減少 64,000 美元。

Non-GAAP net loss in Q1 2024 was $4 million and compares to a loss of $4.2 million in Q1 2023. And as with our GAAP results, this was primarily due to lower R&D expenses. Sequentially, non-GAAP net loss increased by $228,000 from $3.8 million in Q4, as lower revenues were partly offset by the decline in operating expenses.

2024 年第一季的非 GAAP 淨虧損為 400 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季的虧損為 420 萬美元。與我們公認的會計準則結果一樣，這主要是由於研發費用降低。隨後，非 GAAP 淨虧損從第四季度的 380 萬美元增加了 228,000 美元，因為營業費用的下降部分抵消了收入的下降。

The differences between GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses in all periods presented are primarily due to non-cash stock compensation expenses, which were approximately $1 million in both Q1 of 2024 and in Q4 2023 and compares to $927,000 in Q1 of 2023. Our balance of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments on March 31, 2024, was $19.3 million compared to $19.5 million at the end of 2023.

所有期間的GAAP 和非GAAP 營運費用之間的差異主要是由於非現金股票補償費用，2024 年第一季和2023 年第四季的非現金股票補償費用約為100 萬美元，而2023 年第一季度為927,000 美元。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的現金、現金等價物及短期投資餘額為 1,930 萬美元，而 2023 年底為 1,950 萬美元。

During Q1 2024, we used $4.1 million of cash in operating activities. And we sold approximately 510,000 shares under our ATM facility at an average price per share of $8.06, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $4 million. First-quarter operating cash flow includes the collection of $550,000 of fees invoiced after meeting a key milestone in Q4 under our commercial license. As of March 31, 2024, we had 26.9 million shares outstanding.

2024 年第一季度，我們在經營活動中使用了 410 萬美元現金。我們透過 ATM 設施以每股 8.06 美元的平均價格出售了約 510,000 股股票，淨收益約為 400 萬美元。第一季營運現金流包括在我們的商業許可下在第四季度達到關鍵里程碑後收取的 550,000 美元費用。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們已發行股票 2,690 萬股。

Revenue in Q1 was approximately $18,000 and consisted of recognizing three months of revenue under the MST CAD license to a large semiconductor manufacturer that we announced last quarter. We expect to recognize approximately that same $18,000 of MST CAD license revenue from this customer for the remainder of 2024.

第一季的收入約為 18,000 美元，包括根據我們上季度宣布的一家大型半導體製造商的 MST CAD 許可證確認三個月的收入。我們預計在 2024 年剩餘時間內將從該客戶確認約 18,000 美元的 MST CAD 授權收入。

For Q2, we expect our total revenue will be approximately $50,000 consisting of the MST CAD license and engineering services. As I stated in our call last quarter, the next major revenue milestone under our agreement with ST will be the grant of the distribution license upon completion of the qualification process, which is largely under ST's control. So I cannot provide guidance on the timing for recognizing that revenue.

對於第二季度，我們預計總收入約為 50,000 美元，其中包括 MST CAD 授權和工程服務。正如我在上個季度的電話會議中所說，根據我們與 ST 達成的協議，下一個主要收入里程碑將是在完成資格認證流程後授予分銷許可證，該認證流程主要由 ST 控制。因此，我無法就確認該收入的時間提供指導。

Moving to our expense guidance. Given the lower operating expenses in Q1 due to the lower outsourced R&D spending, which will not ramp back up until we have a replacement for TSI, I'm reducing our full-year guidance for non-GAAP operating expenses to a range of $16.5 million to $17.25 million. We also expect to add several headcount this year in sales and marketing and engineering, and our expense guidance reflects the impact of those planned new hires.

前往我們的費用指南。鑑於外包研發支出減少導致第一季營運支出下降，而且在我們找到 TSI 的替代品之前，這些支出不會回升，因此我將非 GAAP 營運支出的全年指引降低至 1,650 萬美元的範圍至1,725 萬美元。我們也預計今年將在銷售、行銷和工程方面增加幾名員工，我們的費用指導反映了這些計劃新員工的影響。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Scott for a few summary remarks before we open up the call to questions. Scott?

這樣，在我們開始提問之前，我會將電話轉回給史考特，讓他做一些總結。史考特？

Thank you, Frank. I'm proud of the progress we've made in the last quarter, and I hope you get a sense of the momentum we have underway both in development and in new production opportunities. Our team is confident that it's only a matter of time before we can announce license deals that will further solidify the potential of Atomera's business for the future.

謝謝你，弗蘭克。我對我們上個季度取得的進展感到自豪，我希望您能感受到我們在開發和新生產機會方面所取得的勢頭。我們的團隊相信，宣布許可交易只是時間問題，這將進一步鞏固 Atomera 未來的業務潛力。

In addition, it is great to give you a peek at our early compound semiconductor work, which could form a whole new revenue stream for the company. We are doing everything in our power to get ST to production quickly while simultaneously building a diversified, sustained business around that first deal.

此外，很高興讓您了解我們早期的化合物半導體工作，這可能為該公司形成一個全新的收入來源。我們正在竭盡全力讓意法半導體快速投入生產，同時圍繞第一筆交易建立多元化、可持續的業務。

Thanks as always for your support. Mike, we can now take questions.

一如既往地感謝您的支持。麥克，我們現在可以提問。

Okay. Thank you, Scott. (Event Instructions) Richard Shannon, Craig-Hallum.

好的。謝謝你，斯科特。（活動說明）理查德·香農，克雷格·哈勒姆。

All right. Mike, can you hear me?

好的。麥克，你聽得到我說話嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Excellent. Hi, Scott and Frank. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess maybe I'll ask the first one here on a new language you've been using here -- and you put it in your press release as well -- but regarding proposals, record number of proposals this quarter versus last.

出色的。嗨，斯科特和弗蘭克。感謝您回答我的問題。我想也許我會問這裡的第一個關於你一直在這裡使用的新語言的問題——你也把它放在你的新聞稿中——但關於提案，本季度的提案數量與上季度相比創下了紀錄。

I guess, just to understand the significance of this, to what degree are these proposals a push mechanism for you versus a pull mechanism from your customers to get an understanding of true demand here and interest? How do we take that?

我想，為了理解這一點的重要性，這些建議在多大程度上是你的推動機制，而不是你的客戶的拉動機制，以了解這裡的真實需求和興趣？我們如何看待這一點？

Yeah, Mike. I'm glad you asked that question because it's important to understand. We don't push proposals out. We don't just generate proposals and send them to people. The only time we make a proposal is when we've gone far enough down the road with a customer in our work that they are interested in receiving a proposal from us.

是的，麥克。我很高興你問這個問題，因為理解這個問題很重要。我們不會推出提案。我們不只是提出建議並將其發送給人們。我們提出提案的唯一一次是當我們在工作中與客戶進行了足夠深入的合作，他們有興趣收到我們的提案時。

Of course, we share budgetary ideas about what doing business with us will be from the very first day. But creating a proposal, a term sheet and everything around that is a lot of work. And what we're talking about is that type of proposal, not just a speculative send it out and hope they respond to it type of thing.

當然，我們從第一天起就與我們開展業務的內容分享預算想法。但制定提案、投資意向書以及相關的一切工作需要大量工作。我們談論的是這種類型的提案，而不僅僅是投機性的發送出去並希望他們做出回應之類的事情。

Okay. That's helpful. I just want to make sure on that. And then any sweet spot of technology areas that are -- where these proposals are going out on? Is it a different mix than what you've had in the past? Obviously, we talked a lot about RF SOI and power.

好的。這很有幫助。我只是想確認一下。然後，這些提案將在哪些技術領域發揮最佳作用？它與您過去的組合是否有所不同？顯然，我們談論了很多有關 RF SOI 和功率的內容。

No, I think I talked a little bit about it in my script. But the proposals are going out in almost all of our focused areas. Yeah, I would say all of our focused areas and, in addition, in one other area that we haven't talked about before (inaudible) it's something we've done a lot of work in so far, but it's something that we have been hoping to enter for some time. So it's good potential.

不，我想我在劇本中談過一些。但這些提案幾乎涵蓋了我們所有關注的領域。是的，我想說的是我們所有的重點領域，此外，在我們之前沒有討論過的另一個領域（聽不清楚），到目前為止我們已經做了很多工作，但這是我們已經擁有的東西一段時間以來一直希望進入。所以它有很好的潛力。

Okay, that's helpful. Let's see, a question or two on STMicro here. You talked about, I think, the last couple of quarters about -- and one of the next major steps here is getting a PDK frozen. Is this something you have visibility into from STMicro and have any expectations on timing for that?

好的，這很有幫助。讓我們看看這裡有一兩個關於 STMicro 的問題。我想，您談到了過去幾季的情況，接下來的主要步驟之一就是凍結 PDK。您是否從 STMicro 了解了這一點，並對具體時間有何期望？

Yeah. I think we definitely have a view into their development process. We don't have a very clear view into their exact schedule. And if we did, they've asked us not to share that publicly, so we won't be able to provide guidance on exactly when those things get done. But I can tell you that we're on track.

是的。我認為我們肯定了解他們的開發過程。我們對他們的確切時間表並沒有非常清楚的了解。如果我們這樣做了，他們會要求我們不要公開分享，因此我們將無法提供有關這些事情何時完成的確切指導。但我可以告訴你，我們正在步入正軌。

When we shared in prior presentations a timeline and the process, like we had some graphics that we're showing the process, that's a standard process that people would use in the industry, a standard time line. I still think that that's very reasonable. And one thing that both we and ST have agreed that we can say is that we're on track to that process.

當我們在先前的演示中分享時間表和流程時​​，就像我們有一些圖形來展示流程一樣，這是人們在行業中使用的標準流程，即標準時間軸。我仍然認為這是非常有道理的。我們和意法半導體都同意我們可以說的一件事是，我們正在朝著這一進程邁進。

Okay. All right. Fair enough then. Scott, I probably missed writing down the exact language you had on the topic of RF SOI, but I think you said something along the lines of you're running wafers at most of the manufacturers out there. Maybe if you can repeat that passage and then help us understand the point of that comment, please.

好的。好的。那就足夠了。Scott，我可能錯過了您在 RF SOI 主題上使用的確切語言，但我認為您所說的內容與您在大多數製造商中運行晶圓的內容類似。也許您可以重複該段落，然後幫助我們理解該評論的要點。

Yeah. So the RF SOI market has got a certain amount of manufacturers that really constitute the bulk of the capacity that's available in the industry. And today, we're working with the vast majority of them and starting wafers with a lot of them.

是的。因此，RF SOI 市場擁有一定數量的製造商，它們真正構成了該行業可用產能的大部分。今天，我們正在與他們中的絕大多數合作，並與他們中的許多人一起開始生產晶圓。

Okay, okay. Fair enough then. Let's jump over to the large analog player for which you've got a license for MST CAD here. I guess just what do you kind of see as the outcome for this work? I think Frank mentioned [you're expecting] a license -- generate license revenues throughout this year. I'm not sure if that implies stopping after that point.

好吧好吧。那就足夠了。讓我們跳到您已在此處獲得 MST CAD 授權的大型模擬播放器。我想您認為這份工作的結果是什麼？我想弗蘭克提到了[你正在期待]一個許可證——今年全年都會產生許可證收入。我不確定這是否意味著在那之後停止。

But what do you expect to be the outcome or hope to outcome here? And when will that happen? And does Frank's comment about revenues lasting through this year imply it's not going into next year? And is that the -- an end point of the work? Or -- just want to correlate those two comments and understand the dynamics there.

但你期望或希望在這裡得到什麼結果呢？那什麼時候會發生呢？弗蘭克關於今年持續收入的評論是否意味著它不會持續到明年？這是工作的終點嗎？或者 - 只是想將這兩個評論關聯起來並了解那裡的動態。

Yeah, okay. I apologize if that was a little confusing. So just our MST CAD tools, we licensed to customers just like Cadence or Synopsys would license their tools to customers. In this case, we have this customer who has signed up for a one-year license with it. It doesn't mean they're going to stop at the end of the year. It just means that that is a contract that we have in place that would be extended as we got closer, just like most simulation model licenses.

好的。如果這有點令人困惑，我深表歉意。因此，我們向客戶授權的 MST CAD 工具就像 Cadence 或 Synopsys 向客戶授權他們的工具一樣。在本例中，我們有一位客戶已與其簽署了一年許可證。這並不意味著他們會在今年年底停止。這只是意味著我們已經簽訂了一份合同，隨著時間的推移，該合約將會延長，就像大多數模擬模型許可證一樣。

And what does that mean? Well, what it means is this large customer is doing work on their next-generation process, and they're adding MST in to see if that makes sense for them. And they're adding it in at the simulation level. And so then it's easy for them to try a bunch of different things.

這意味著什麼？嗯，這意味著這個大客戶正在開發他們的下一代流程，他們正在添加 MST，看看這對他們是否有意義。他們將其添加到模擬等級。所以他們很容易嘗試很多不同的事情。

We can give them advice on different ways of integrating to get different levels of performance improvement. And when they have seen results that they think they like, then our next goal would be to get them to take a installation -- a manufacturing license and install it in their fab and actually start running wafers inside their own fab.

我們可以為他們提供有關不同整合方式的建議，以獲得不同程度的效能改進。當他們看到他們認為喜歡的結果時，我們的下一個目標是讓他們獲得安裝——製造許可證並將其安裝在他們的晶圓廠中，並實際開始在他們自己的晶圓廠內運行晶圓。

They could actually do demos with us, where they send us wafers and then they run wafers in their fab. But we'd be really encouraging them to install. So the TCAD license is kind of a first step in that direction.

他們實際上可以與我們一起進行演示，向我們發送晶圓，然後在他們的晶圓廠中運行晶圓。但我們真的會鼓勵他們安裝。因此，TCAD 授權是朝這個方向邁出的第一步。

Got it. Okay, that's helpful. Maybe moving over to the first JDA partner here. It's obviously been in place for -- I can't remember how many years -- two or three years now. And I think last quarter, you talked about some strong engagement that was slowed down by the holidays, and you seem to -- I can't remember the exact language. I'm looking at my notes here.

知道了。好的，這很有幫助。也許會轉移到這裡的第一個 JDA 合作夥伴。它顯然已經存在了——我不記得有多少年了——現在有兩三年了。我認為上個季度，您談到了一些因假期而放緩的強烈參與度，而且您似乎 - 我不記得確切的語言。我正在這裡看我的筆記。

It sounds like there's some strong interest from business units here, but no decision made. Maybe you can give us some sense here of some back and forth in more iterations happening that you weren't expecting. Or maybe just kind of help us out relative to what sounded like you're getting fairly close to a next step several months ago.

聽起來這裡的業務部門有一些濃厚的興趣，但尚未做出決定。也許你可以讓我們了解一些你沒有預料到的迭代中發生的一些來回。或者也許只是幫助我們解決幾個月前聽起來您已經相當接近下一步的問題。

Yeah, yeah. I think it's a very frustrating situation. We did a JDA with these guys a couple of years ago. They gave us a set of specifications. We met all of those specifications. And so then they said, okay, we're going to present this to our business units to consider adopting.

是啊是啊。我認為這是一個非常令人沮喪的情況。幾年前我們與這些人進行了 JDA。他們給了我們一套規格。我們滿足了所有這些規格。然後他們說，好吧，我們將把這個提交給我們的業務部門考慮採用。

We have been working with a number of their business units. And last year, they gave us a whole bunch of other tests and specs that they wanted us to run wafers for and do simulations to prove that we could solve them, and we did by the end of last year. We pretty much provided all of that test data.

我們一直在與他們的許多業務部門合作。去年，他們給了我們一大堆其他測試和規格，他們希望我們運行晶圓並進行模擬，以證明我們可以解決這些問題，我們在去年年底就做到了。我們幾乎提供了所有測試數據。

They reviewed, they agreed that we had met all of it. And so now, we're in this very frustrating phase where they're saying, yeah, your stuff seems to work well. But until we've identify this timing when we're going to make a change to that particular area, then we'll decide whether we're going to adopt it or not and do a license.

他們審查後一致認為我們已經滿足了所有要求。所以現在，我們正處於一個非常令人沮喪的階段，他們說，是的，你的東西似乎運作得很好。但在我們確定要對該特定區域進行更改的時機之前，我們將決定是否採用它並頒發許可證。

And so we've been going back and forth with them on this for months. It may -- I think there may be an impression because we can't give many updates on it that we're not doing. But we literally are talking to these guys constantly.

因此，我們幾個月來一直在這個問題上與他們反覆討論。我認為可能會有這樣的印象，因為我們無法提供很多我們沒有做的更新。但我們確實在不斷地與這些人交談。

And right now, we just haven't gotten to the point where we can announce that we have an agreement. So yeah, it's frustrating for us, and I'm sure it's very frustrating for investors. It looks like we're not doing anything. We're doing a lot. We just haven't gotten it over the finish line.

現在，我們還沒有達到可以宣布達成協議的程度。所以，是的，這對我們來說很令人沮喪，我相信這對投資者來說也非常令人沮喪。看來我們什麼也沒做。我們正在做很多事情。我們只是還沒衝過終點。

And I don't think it's that unusual. If you look back at our STMicro engagement, we really -- by, I think, 2020, we had shown them all the data that they needed to do an installation and get started. And it wasn't until 2023 that they finally did a license with us and got started on that. So to a certain extent, we have to be prepared and sitting on the shelf when they're ready to grab something off the shelf and put it into place.

我不認為這有什麼不尋常。如果你回顧我們與 STMicro 的合作，我認為到 2020 年，我們確實已經向他們展示了安裝和開始使用所需的所有數據。直到 2023 年，他們終於獲得了我們的許可並開始了這項工作。因此，在某種程度上，當他們準備好從架子上拿走一些東西並將其放置到位時，我們必須做好準備並坐在架子上。

Okay. Fair enough.

好的。很公平。

And typically, when we do a license with a customer, we ask them to pay an upfront license fee when we sign. So if you're going to need to do -- use the technology in a year, why would you do a license right away, right? So that might be a little bit of a holdup as well.

通常，當我們與客戶簽訂許可時，我們會要求他們在簽署時支付預付許可費。因此，如果您需要在一年內使用該技術，為什麼要立即獲得許可，對嗎？所以這也可能有點阻礙。

Okay. Okay, fair enough. I will jump out of line here, but probably come back in. But thanks for all the details, Scott.

好的。好吧，很公平。我會在這裡跳出隊列，但可能會回來。但謝謝你提供的所有細節，斯科特。

Okay, Richard. Thank you. Looking at some of the questions coming in on the Q&A chat. The first one regards STMicro, which is, when ST makes the next milestone, what will the scale of fees that Atomera will receive?

好吧，理查德。謝謝。看看問答聊天中出現的一些問題。第一個是STMicro，就是當ST跨出下一個里程碑時，Atomera將收到的費用規模是多少？

Happy to take that one. We've said since the time that we signed the -- and announced the signature of the deal that it was consistent with our model for licensing to customers. And we expect the total fees to be in the neighborhood of $3 million for all stages of licensing. And this is consistent with that.

很高興接受那個。自從我們簽署協議並宣布簽署協議以來，我們就一直表示這與我們向客戶授權的模式是一致的。我們預計所有階段的許可總費用約為 300 萬美元。這與此是一致的。

So you can do the math based on the revenue recognized already, which was $550,000 last quarter and $150,000 that we had recognized originally when we did the integration license with them several years ago. So this is pretty significant in terms of revenue.

因此，您可以根據已確認的收入進行計算，上季度為 550,000 美元，幾年前我們與他們獲得整合許可時最初確認的收入為 150,000 美元。因此，就收入而言，這非常重要。

And when I talked about the inability to give revenue guidance, it wasn't -- I wasn't implying we didn't know how much it would be. But rather, it's not something that I can give guidance on the timing of when it's going to be recognized because we -- our policy has always been to guide only for the next quarter until we have solid visibility beyond that, and we don't have that kind of visibility yet. But when we get closer, we will -- as long as it's consistent with our confidentiality with them, we'll give guidance when we get closer.

當我談到無法提供收入指引時，我並不是暗示我們不知道收入指引是多少。相反，我無法就何時得到認可提供指導，因為我們的政策一直是只為下個季度提供指導，直到我們對此有可靠的了解，而且我們不這樣做還擁有這樣的知名度。但當我們更接近時，我們會——只要符合我們對他們的保密規定，我們就會在更接近時提供指導。

Okay. That -- the next question about timing for ST, you answered that quite well. So another question that came in. Are the record number of commercial proposals for manufacturing and production licenses, are they for manufacturing and production or just integration license?

好的。下一個關於 ST 時機的問題，你回答得很好。於是又出現了另一個問題。製造和生產許可證的商業提案數量是否創紀錄？

Yeah, I'll take that. For the most part, we're trying to push customers to install, and they are -- most of our customers are used to working with the big tool manufacturers. And typically, if a tool manufacturer comes in and says, hey, I've got a new tool that will solve some problems for you. The way that works is they usually ask the tool manufacturer to do a number of demos for them first.

是的，我會接受的。在大多數情況下，我們都在努力推動客戶安裝，我們的大多數客戶都習慣與大型工具製造商合作。通常，如果工具製造商進來並說，嘿，我有一個新工具可以為您解決一些問題。有效的方式是他們通常要求工具製造商先為他們做一些演示。

So they -- the tool manufacturer will do demos back at their fab and send them wafers. Some of them have that mindset with us. And for them, we would have to do -- try to do an integration license before we get to manufacturing.

因此，工具製造商將在他們的工廠進行演示並向他們發送晶圓。他們中的一些人和我們一樣有這種心態。對於他們來說，我們必須在開始製造之前嘗試獲得整合許可。

But our goal is to try to get people to install and put it in their fab and start manufacturing those wafers as soon as possible. So I think all of our proposals that are outstanding right now include our for-manufacturing licenses, but I won't preclude the fact that we might have to do some demos before we get there.

但我們的目標是嘗試讓人們安裝並將其放入他們的晶圓廠，並儘快開始製造這些晶圓。因此，我認為我們目前所有未完成的提案都包括我們的製造許可證，但我不排除我們可能必須在到達那裡之前進行一些演示。

Okay. Have there been serious talks with wafer suppliers about a deal for blanket MST wafers on RF SOI?

好的。是否與晶圓供應商就 RF SOI 上的整體 MST 晶圓交易進行了認真的談判？

Yes. The answer is yes. That's something that we've been talking about with various wafer suppliers for some time. And I think, yeah, we don't have anything to announce on that just yet. But we do believe that when we're in a position where one of our RF SOI customers is ready to make a decision to go to production, which means there'll probably be another year or year and a half at least before they go to production, we will be able to arrange for a wafer supplier to deliver MST RF SOI wafers to them, if that's the path they want to go down.

是的。答案是肯定的。一段時間以來，我們一直在與各晶圓供應商討論這個問題。我想，是的，我們目前還沒有任何消息要宣布。但我們確實相信，當我們的一個 RF SOI 客戶準備好決定投入生產時，這意味著他們可能還需要一年或至少一年半的時間才能投入生產。向他們提供MST RF SOI 晶圓（如果他們願意這樣做的話）。

So that is definitely -- we've done the pre-work for that, and I think we could put that together. Just to be clear, we also make it available to our RF SOI customers that they can buy RF SOI wafers and deposit MST on them themselves, and then they license that from us. So there's lots of ways in which it can work.

所以這肯定是——我們已經為此做好了前期工作，我認為我們可以將它們放在一起。需要明確的是，我們也向 RF SOI 客戶提供，他們可以購買 RF SOI 晶圓並自行在其上沉積 MST，然後他們從我們那裡獲得許可。因此，它可以通過多種方式發揮作用。

Okay. And a question. Maybe you can comment on the replacement for TSI. I think you addressed it a little bit in the prepared comments, but has a replacement for TSI been signed?

好的。還有一個問題。也許您可以評論一下 TSI 的替代品。我認為您在準備好的評論中稍微提到了這個問題，但是 TSI 的替代者已經簽署了嗎？

Yeah. I would say we've spoken to almost a dozen companies -- maybe less than that, but a lot of companies. And it seems very clear that we have a lot of good options. We have customers who -- I mean, possible suppliers that have much better process technology that they used to have at TSI. And we have ones with more specialty processes that we want.

是的。我想說，我們已經與近十幾家公司進行了交談——也許比這少，但很多公司。很明顯，我們有很多好的選擇。我們的客戶—我的意思是，可能的供應商擁有比 TSI 更好的製程技術。我們有我們想要的具有更多專業流程的產品。

So it's -- I think we're getting very close to starting working with one or more of them, and I don't have any doubt that we will end up working with multiple suppliers, not just one. But I think we'll get started with the first one very soon. So yeah, I think the replacement for TSI is well on its way.

所以，我認為我們已經非常接近開始與其中一個或多個供應商合作，而且我毫不懷疑我們最終將與多個供應商合作，而不僅僅是一個。但我認為我們很快就會開始第一個。所以，是的，我認為 TSI 的替代品正在順利進行。

Okay. Great. And then Richard Shannon had a follow-up question. Richard, if you would unmute and turn on your camera.

好的。偉大的。然後理查德·香農提出了一個後續問題。理查德，請您取消靜音並開啟相機。

Mike, it will not let me turn on my camera. But can you hear me?

麥克，它不讓我打開相機。但你聽得到我說話嗎？

Yeah, we can hear you. Go ahead.

是的，我們能聽到你的聲音。前進。

Okay. It's not allowing me to -- oh, there we go. Now, we can do this maybe. Yeah, there we go.

好的。它不允許我——哦，我們開始吧。現在，我們也許可以做到這一點。是的，我們開始吧。

Scott, I wanted to follow up on one of your responses to my earlier questions here related to STMicro. You said you basically showed them all the data that they had requested back in 2020, but they didn't start until 2023 when they pulled it off the shelf. So, I guess kind of applying this to your other set of customers' engagements, how many other customers have you essentially satisfied all of the data that they've asked for and are sitting around?

Scott，我想跟進您對我之前與 STMicro 有關的問題的回答之一。你說你基本上向他們展示了他們在 2020 年要求的所有數據，但直到 2023 年才開始下架。因此，我想將此應用到您的其他客戶群的參與中，有多少其他客戶基本上滿足了他們所要求的所有數據？

And do you think it's reasonable to think about a delay between having the technology, like satisfying all the specs, and then waiting x number of years -- in STMicro's case, three years -- before you get to production? Is that something that you expect? Or is that an extraordinarily long time? How would you relate this to your experiences with other customers that we haven't gotten to that point but seem like you've made some good progress?

您認為在擁有該技術（例如滿足所有規格）和等待 x 年（在 STMicro 的情況下是三年）之間再進行生產之間的延遲是否合理？這是你所期待的嗎？或者說這段時間實在太長了？您如何將此與您與其他客戶的經驗聯繫起來，我們尚未達到這一點，但看起來您已經取得了一些良好的進展？

Yeah, it's a tricky one to answer, Richard. To be honest, ST surprised me. I think surprised all of us. We gave them results. They were very happy with them. And then just -- they just never went off the dime.

是的，理查德，這個問題很難回答。說實話，ST讓我很驚訝。我想我們所有人都感到驚訝。我們給了他們結果。他們對他們非常滿意。然後他們就從來沒有成功過。

We kept in conversation with them all the time, like every few months, we would meet with them, and they'd say, yeah, keep waiting. I don't think that we -- so we have a number of other customers that we've run wafers with, and they've seen good results. And they are not currently in the process of going to production. But I couldn't say exactly how many or whether I think that's going to be typical that they pull it off the shelf.

我們一直與他們交談，就像每隔幾個月，我們就會與他們見面，他們會說，是的，繼續等待。我不認為我們——所以我們有許多其他客戶與我們一起運行晶圓，他們已經看到了良好的結果。目前它們還沒有進入生產階段。但我無法確切地說出有多少，或者我認為這是否是他們將其下架的典型情況。

I can say there are a lot of customers who we -- yeah, that we've shown the good results to. And we keep talking to them, and they keep kind of pushing it off a little. But we do think that we'll engage with them sometime soon. And JDA1 is a good example, but we have other examples like that. Actually, we have a lot of examples like that.

我可以說，我們已經向許多客戶展示了良好的結果。我們一直在和他們交談，但他們總是把這件事推遲一點。但我們確實認為我們很快就會與他們接觸。JDA1 就是一個很好的例子，但我們還有其他類似的例子。事實上，我們身邊有很多這樣的例子。

So yeah, the frustrating thing is if they could just see the results and pull the trigger, that would be great. And that's what -- normally, in a business like ours, a customer puts out an RFQ. They need a certain type of product, and you go and pitch your product. And when they decide yours is the best, you win it. That's what my experience in semiconductors has been my whole career.

所以，是的，令人沮喪的是，如果他們能夠看到結果並扣動扳機，那就太好了。這就是——通常，在像我們這樣的企業中，客戶會提出詢價。他們需要某種類型的產品，然後你就去推銷你的產品。當他們認為你的最好時，你就贏了。這就是我在半導體領域的經驗貫穿了我的整個職業生涯。

But this business we have is a little bit different. We're going out and proactively telling them, hey, if you used our technology, we can make your product a little bit better. And for the most part, we're putting that into their minds.

但我們的這項業務有點不同。我們出去主動告訴他們，嘿，如果你使用我們的技術，我們可以讓你的產品變得更好一點。在大多數情況下，我們會將這一點放入他們的腦海中。

So even after we've convinced them that's the case, we sometimes have to wait until the planned change of that process or node is happening for them to implement it. But I can't say whether that would take a long time or a short time. We haven't had enough experience in it.

因此，即使我們說服了他們事實確實如此，我們有時必須等到該流程或節點的計劃變更發生後才能讓他們實施。但我不能說這會花很長時間還是很短的時間。我們在這方面還沒有足夠的經驗。

It seems like in all the conversations we've had on these conference calls and offline as well, it just smells like RF SOI is mirroring STMicro in a way where it seems like you've suggested or outright told us that you satisfied the requirements. And I think once or more than once, you've even talked about some requirements to changing at some point. But it seems like RF SOI mirrors a lot of what you described with STMicro. Is that a fair comparison?

在我們在電話會議和線下進行的所有對話中，似乎 RF SOI 正在以一種方式反映 STMicro，看起來您已經建議或直接告訴我們您滿足了要求。我認為您甚至曾經或不止一次談到過在某些時候進行更改的一些要求。但 RF SOI 似乎反映了您對 STMicro 所描述的許多內容。這樣的比較公平嗎？

Yeah, yeah. And let me just -- so let's say we have a customer. And we don't engage with them -- and we engage with them as soon as we can, right, as soon as we can get them interested enough to start testing out our technology. And that customer had a plan for some process to bring out a new version of it in two years.

是啊是啊。讓我說一下—假設我們有一個客戶。我們不與他們接觸——我們會盡快與他們接觸，對，只要我們能讓他們有足夠的興趣開始測試我們的技術。該客戶計劃制定一些流程，以便在兩年內推出新版本。

And so they're working on that new process. And simultaneously, we're trying to show to them that our technology is good. And maybe even with only one year left, they say, wow, your technology is really good. But it's too late to implement into our other process. We've already been working for it for more than two years.

所以他們正在研究這個新流程。同時，我們試圖向他們展示我們的技術是優秀的。也許即使只剩下一年的時間，他們也會說，哇，你們的技術真的很好。但現在實施到我們的其他流程已經太晚了。我們已經為此努力了兩年多。

And so you missed the bus on that one. Now we have to wait for that one to go to production and then be in production for a few years before they make a new version of it. And so sometimes, that's just what we face. But like I say, if we have enough shots on net, we're going to hit the right timing with some of them and the other ones will come back around.

所以你錯過了那趟巴士。現在我們必須等待該產品投入生產，然後再生產幾年，然後他們才會製作新版本。所以有時候，這就是我們所面臨的。但就像我說的，如果我們在網上有足夠的射門，我們將在正確的時機擊中其中一些球，而其他球將會回來。

Okay. Fair enough perspective. One last question for me, Scott. Just touching on the topic of leading edge, and I think I've even asked this in past calls here. But it sounds like you've got some long period of engagement with multiple players at leading edge.

好的。足夠公平的觀點。最後一個問題要問我，史考特。只是觸及前沿的話題，我想我甚至在過去的電話中問過這個問題。但聽起來你已經與多個處於領先地位的玩家進行了長時間的接觸。

I guess my essential question here is, do you think that work is mature enough here that you have the possibility of intersecting with the first generation of a new technology coming out. You're talking about nanosheet or Gate-All-Around here, which I think is being implemented first on the 2-nanometer node with one or more guys out there.

我想我的基本問題是，你認為這裡的工作夠成熟嗎？你在這裡談論的是 nanosheet 或 Gate-All-Around，我認為這首先是在 2 奈米節點上由一個或多個人實現的。

Do you think you're going to be early enough to do that? Or does that seem like it might be more of a follow-on derivative process later in the time frame?

你認為你會夠早做到這一點嗎？或者這看起來更像是稍後時間範圍內的後續衍生過程？

Hard to say. I can say that the leading edge guys know about our technology, and they know how it could help them. And so it's -- obviously, if one of them had decided they were definitely going to do that, they certainly would have had to do a license with us.

很難說。我可以說，前沿人士了解我們的技術，他們知道它可以如何幫助他們。所以很明顯，如果他們中的一個決定他們肯定要這樣做，他們肯定必須與我們一起獲得許可。

One of the things about Gate-All-Around and the new nodes, they're so hard to make. They are so complicated that they can't just -- what we call a demo in the industry is when they run some wafers, and they send them to us, and then we put our technology on, and then we send them back.

關於 Gate-All-Around 和新節點的事情之一是，它們很難製造。它們是如此複雜，以至於它們不能只是——我們在行業中所謂的演示是當他們運行一些晶圓，然後將它們發送給我們，然後我們應用我們的技術，然後我們將它們發回。

But for Gate-All-Around, it's so complicated to make these things that we can't do that. We really have to install at the customer site. And so when we do that, they have to sign a license. When they do a license, we definitely will announce it. And obviously, we haven't announced it yet.

但對於 Gate-All-Around 來說，製作這些東西太複雜了，我們無法做到。我們確實必須在客戶現場進行安裝。因此，當我們這樣做時，他們必須簽署許可證。當他們獲得許可時，我們肯定會宣布。顯然，我們還沒有宣布這一點。

But those -- I think we're well positioned to get into one of those. I also think the Gate-All-Around and even the most advanced FinFET nodes still are running at relatively low yields compared to like more mature nodes. And there's room for us to be even incorporated to improve yield in those designs. So fingers crossed that we'll get that done.

但我認為我們已經做好了進入其中一個的準備。我還認為，與更成熟的節點相比，Gate-All-Around 甚至是最先進的 FinFET 節點的產量仍然相對較低。我們甚至還有空間來提高這些設計的產量。所以祈禱我們能完成這件事。

Okay. Fair enough. That's all my questions again, Scott. Thank you.

好的。很公平。這又是我的所有問題，斯科特。謝謝。

Okay. And just one last question here from the Q&A line. And that is, could you describe how the business model for entering the GaN market would be different from your approach to license -- approach to date to licensing of MST?

好的。這是問答環節的最後一個問題。也就是說，您能否描述一下進入 GaN 市場的商業模式與您的授權方法（迄今為止 MST 授權方法）有何不同？

Yeah, yeah. So, the GaN market is very interesting. Actually, this whole compound semiconductor, it's an area that we've been doing research on for a few years. So although this is our first announcement, it isn't something we just started thinking about.

是啊是啊。所以，GaN市場非常有趣。實際上，整個化合物半導體是我們幾年來一直在研究的領域。因此，儘管這是我們的第一個公告，但這並不是我們剛開始考慮的事情。

So there's multiple ways that our business model can be used for GaN. We can just license our MST technology, just like we do today with regular semiconductor makers to adopt MST on wafers and then build GaN wafers on top of that. That's one way that we could do it. We will probably license our GaN technology separately from the rest of our licensed technology because it may have very high value.

因此，我們的業務模型可以透過多種方式用於 GaN。我們可以授權我們的 MST 技術，就像我們今天對常規半導體製造商所做的那樣，在晶圓上採用 MST，然後在此基礎上建立 GaN 晶圓。這是我們可以做到的一種方式。我們可能會將我們的 GaN 技術與其他授權技術分開許可，因為它可能具有非常高的價值。

The second thing we could do is maybe we could become a manufacturer of GaN wafers, at least in modest volumes, and that would allow us to generate revenue. And if it was a very high-value technology, maybe we could make a very nice-looking gross margin there and help to subsidize the rest of our business. We don't have a decision to do that yet.

我們可以做的第二件事是，也許我們可以成為 GaN 晶圓製造商，至少是適度的產量，這將使我們能夠產生收入。如果這是一項非常高價值的技術，也許我們可以在那裡獲得非常可觀的毛利率，並幫助補貼我們的其他業務。我們還沒有決定要這樣做。

I mean, we have a very strong philosophy about making a business model that's got a lot of leverage to the bottom line. And so if we were to become a manufacturer, obviously, we'd have to have a lot more CapEx, which might not work well with that. But we could do something on the smaller volume manufacturing side. But I think for our customers who would go into high-volume manufacturing, it's most likely that we've licensed directly to them.

我的意思是，我們有一個非常強烈的理念，就是建立一個對獲利有很大影響力的商業模式。因此，如果我們要成為製造商，顯然，我們必須有更多的資本支出，這可能不太適用。但我們可以在小批量生產方面做一些事情。但我認為，對於我們將進行大批量生產的客戶來說，我們很可能會直接向他們授予許可。

So we've been looking at the GaN market for a while. We've had a lot of marketing studies going on about how to approach it, but we haven't got a final determination about what we do. I can tell you, I think it's a -- it would be a much faster time to market. And I'm pretty excited about the prospects of MST there and the prospects in a few other areas in the compound semiconductor market.

我們關注 GaN 市場已經有一段時間了。我們正在進行大量關於如何實現這一目標的行銷研究，但我們還沒有最終確定我們要做什麼。我可以告訴你，我認為這將是一個更快的上市時間。我對 MST 的前景以及化合物半導體市場其他一些領域的前景感到非常興奮。

Great. Okay, Scott, why -- that concludes the Q&A session, if you could proceed with any closing comments.

偉大的。好的，斯科特，為什麼——問答環節到此結束，如果您可以繼續發表任何結束語的話。

Okay, sure. Well, I hope today, we've given you a good picture of the compelling prospects which Atomera is pursuing. We will be at the Oppenheimer 9th Annual Emerging Growth one-on-one conference on May 9. If you're planning to attend, I would welcome the opportunity to meet.

好吧，當然。好吧，我希望今天我們已經向您展示了 Atomera 所追求的令人信服的前景。我們將於 5 月 9 日參加奧本海默第九屆年度新興成長一對一會議。如果您計劃參加，我很高興有機會見面。

Please continue to look for our news, articles, and blog posts, which are available along with investor alerts on our website, atomera.com. Should you have additional questions, please contact Mike Bishop, who'll be happy to follow up. Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to our next update call.

請繼續尋找我們的新聞、文章和部落格文章，這些內容以及投資者警報都可以在我們的網站atomera.com 上找到。如果您還有其他問題，請聯絡 Mike Bishop，他將很樂意跟進。再次感謝您的支持，我們期待下次更新電話。

Great. Thanks, Scott. This concludes the Atomera call.

偉大的。謝謝，斯科特。Atomera 電話會議到此結束。