A collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory and Kyma Technologies focusing on advanced semiconductor devices has earned a spot in the second cohort of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Technologist in Residence (TIR) Program.
Three DOE national laboratories will receive funding to advance collaborative research and development in their respective focus areas. DOE is making an investment of $400,000 in each partnership, an amount that will be matched by the companies selected for participation.
The TIR Program – sponsored by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – is designed to streamline engagement and increase collaborative research and development (R&D) between national laboratories and private sector companies. It is also designed to strengthen U.S. clean energy manufacturing competitiveness, as well as the commercial impact of its national laboratories.
Each new TIR awardee will partner a senior lab technologist from a DOE national laboratory with an industry professional from a clean energy manufacturing company or consortium of companies.
The selected TIR pairs are:
This collaboration will focus on developing a long-term collaboration between Kyma and the DOE national laboratories that will center on the development of advanced semiconductor devices for application in advanced power electronics, optoelectronics, solid-state lighting, and photovoltaics. The major technology area that will be investigated is the manufacture of ultra-high-quality single crystal materials and epiwafers and devices fabricated from those materials.
Specifically, the work will focus on integrating the synthesis of advanced crystalline semiconductors with device design and fabrication and advanced materials characterization to accelerate the transition from research to market.
The core expertise of Kyma (Raleigh, N.C.) is the synthesis of high quality, single-crystal semiconductor materials, including GaN, AlN, AlGaN, Ga2O3, diamond, and MoS2, which are at the core of clean energy technologies such as advanced power electronics, solid state lighting, RF devices, optoelectronics, and advanced sensors. The availability of a reliable supply of these substrates is crucial for the development of U.S. device manufacturing capabilities in all those technology areas. In addition to Argonne, many other DOE national laboratories have strong R&D programs targeting those areas.
Argonne and Kyma have a mutual interest in achieving a tighter integration between bulk crystal and high-quality epitaxy, device design and fabrication, and advanced materials characterization in order to identify and determine early in the development cycle the root causes of device failure and performance loss. Specifically, Argonne is interested in tackling key materials and manufacturing challenges identified by U.S. industry by leveraging its unique core capabilities in the areas of advanced X-ray characterization through the Advanced Photon Source, device fabrication through the Center for Nanoscale Materials, as well as a world-leading program in atomic layer deposition (ALD). These capabilities allow Argonne to bridge the traditional gap between fundamental and applied R&D areas and domains of expertise. Kyma is interested in tapping into device fabrication and advanced materials characterization capabilities available at Argonne but also in other national laboratories. These capabilities are crucial to Kyma’s core business so it can test and explore new applications for its substrate materials.
This partnership will focus initially on the biofuels industry and the challenges inherent in biofuel production, feedstock quality and bioconversion. The technologists at INL and DuPont will partner to streamline engagement across the National Lab complex, break down barriers in working with the National Labs, and increase collaborative research and development (R&D) between national labs and DuPont.
This partnership will leverage Oak Ridge's strong expertise and resources in advanced manufacturing. Some areas of focus include advanced materials and coatings, smart parts and sensors, advanced material design and additive manufacturing.
The TIR program capitalizes on DOE’s 17 national laboratories’ rich history of industry partnerships and commercial impact and helps to bridge the gap between private sector and national laboratories. Through this initiative, participants can better understand the true nature of industry’s most important problems and the lab capabilities that can best solve them and increase industry engagement.
This announcement follows the successful launch of TIR in December 2015, when seven industry-lab pairs – including national companies like Proctor & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, and Cummins – were selected to undertake advanced research in clean energy manufacturing and establish mechanisms that will help interested companies more easily leverage the national lab network in the future. Learn more about the initial round.
Interested national laboratories and their industry partners can still apply for the TIR Program. Applications for the TIR Program will be open and evaluated on a rolling basis, to give lab and industry pairs the opportunity to apply according to their business schedule. Interested national labs and companies will determine areas of mutual interest, identify technologist pairs, and apply to TIR through the Lab Call for Proposals.
Kyma’s mission is to provide advanced materials solutions that promote energy efficiency. Kyma’s products include a diverse portfolio of advanced crystalline materials (including GaN, AlN, AlGaN, Ga2O3, and MoS2), crystal growth tools for fabricating such materials, and GaN-based photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) devices.
For more information about Kyma, visit www.kymatech.com, send an email to info@kymatech.com, or call the company directly at 919.789.8880.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.
