Kyma Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of low defect density native gallium nitride (GaN) substrates, announced today that they have been awarded a new research contract to further advance their leading single crystal gallium nitride (GaN) manufacturing technology. Their proposal entitled "Production of Large Area Semi-Insulating Gallium Nitride Substrates" was selected by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) under the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program for Phase II STTR funding. This follows the successful completion of a previously funded Phase I STTR from MDA wherein Kyma demonstrated the production of 3" diameter semi-insulating GaN for military radar applications.

 

According to Drew Hanser, company co-founder and CTO, "This program is critically important towards realizing one of our primary near-term goals, which is to increase the quality and availability of semi-insulating (SI) GaN substrates. Success in this program will enable our customers to explore the potential of bulk GaN to provide improved performance and reliability in next generation microelectronic device technologies based on the III-nitride materials family."

Co-founder and COO Mark Williams offered, "Past and current support from MDA is helping us develop what we believe represents a new platform materials technology. The strong interest we are fielding in SI GaN is largely due to its potential to enable critical advances in microelectronic device performance and reliability which are required for several military and commercial applications, including ground based x-band radar and next generation wireless base stations."

About Bulk Nitride Semiconductors

Bulk nitride semiconductors currently under development are expected to provide critical advances in cost, performance, and reliability of a broad range of nitride semiconductor devices for a broad range of commercial markets and applications including power switching electronics, high power radio-frequency electronics, solid state lighting, optical storage, bioagent and chemical sensing, and ultraviolet light detection. The combined market potential for nitride semiconductor devices is expected to exceed $25B in 2015.

About Kyma Technologies

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kyma Technologies Inc. was co-founded in 1998 by the company's chief operating officer Mark Williams and chief technical officer Drew Hanser. As graduate students, Williams and Hanser both performed research developing III-nitride materials manufacturing processes at North Carolina State University (NCSU) under the direction of internationally renowned professors Jerry Cuomo and Bob Davis, respectively. Kyma has developed a strong IP portfolio through exclusive license to certain NCSU patents for III-nitride materials manufacturing technology and continuing development of patented technology. Kyma has secured three rounds of venture capital funding and has benefited from strong support by US DoD agencies and DoE, beginning in 1998 with an STTR program funded by BMDO (now called MDA) and monitored by Dr. Colin Wood of the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The company's business focus is to deliver GaN substrates to device manufacturers in the optoelectronic and microelectronic market spaces.

For more information about Kyma Technologies, please visit our website www.kymatech.com, send us e-mail at info@kymatech.com, or call the company directly at 919.789.8880.

Kyma is a registered trademark of Kyma Technologies, Inc.