Kyma Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of ultra-high purity crystalline gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) materials and related products and services, is pleased to announce the selection of the photographic submission for the July-August 2009 cover of Materials Today, a leading international review magazine for researchers with an interest in materials science and technology.

The winning photograph was taken by Gregory J. Mulholland, Kyma’s Director of Engineering, using a Wyko Optical Profiler provided by Veeco Instruments.  The image is of partially decomposed crystalline Gallium Nitride (GaN) around a Ga droplet with characteristics which are suggestive of a Frank-Read dislocation source. Typically, such defects are seen only in smaller scale observations especially via transmission electron microscopy, as opposed to this millimeter scale feature.

Mr. Mulholland said, “While this image was a lot of fun to take and shows the incredible detailed morphological information we can get from the Wyko, we have found the tool is also excellent for wafer mapping and as a routine characterization tool.  We use it to assess the characteristics of several of our products throughout several different stages of our manufacturing processes.  It has been especially useful in understanding and improving our grinding and polishing processes.”

Dr. Edward Preble, Kyma’s Chief Operating Officer, added, “Greg’s first assignment after joining us a year ago was to bring the Wyko tool up upon its delivery.  Within a few short days he was able to generate useful images, document the instrument’s metrological capabilities, and develop written best operating practices.  Ever since then the tool has provided invaluable information about our product quality and has helped us flag opportunities for improvement.  We thank Veeco for building such an excellent routine characterization tool and believe our customers are better served accordingly.”

About Materials Today

Materials Today is the international review magazine for all researchers with an interest in materials science and technology.  For more information about Materials Today, visit their website at http://www.materialstoday.com/the-magazine.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco provides the tools to make, measure and visualize today's world-changing technologies. From data storage, semiconductor, LED, solar and wireless to the frontiers of life science, materials science and nanotechnology, Veeco drives the tiny changes that change everything.

For more information about Veeco visit the company website at http://www.veeco.com.

About Kyma Technologies

Kyma is a leading supplier of crystalline gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) materials for a broad range of high performance nitride semiconductor device applications.

The market for nitride semiconductor devices is expected to surpass $9B by 2010. The combined addressable market for GaN and AlN substrates is expected to surpass $500M by 2010.

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

Kyma is a registered trademark of Kyma Technologies, Inc.