Kyma Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of advanced materials solutions that promote safety and energy efficiency, announced today their collaboration with Penn State University’s Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials.

The Center was established in 2012 by Mauricio Terrones, Center director and Penn State professor of physics, and Joshua Robinson, Center associated director and Penn State professor of materials science and engineering. The Center’s mission is to conduct leading international and multidisciplinary research on 2D layered materials aiming at finding new phenomena and applications that could be transformed into high impact products.

Such materials include transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as the sulfides and selenides of tungsten (WS₂, WSe₂) and molybdenum (MoS₂, MoSe₂). TMDs can exist in stable 2-dimensional forms, including as one atom high sheets or planes, or multi-atom stacks. In that sense, they are much like graphene, but they also have some key advantages over graphene. Firstly, they are semiconductors with a bandgap, while graphene is a semi-metal or zero-gap semiconductor. Secondly, they can be stacked in different sequences, such as MoSe₂ on WS₂, which thereby enables “bandgap engineering” which is an important tool for building new semiconductor heterostructures. In contrast, graphene does not benefit from having other materials to stack into such heterostructures.

Kyma’s interest is ultimately in commercializing these new materials and the equipment and processes used to create them.

A key benefit to the partnership is that Kyma’s patented and proprietary processes and equipment for nitride semiconductor materials manufacturing have direct applicability to these new 2-dimentional TMD materials. Professor Robinson, who has a long history of collaboration with Kyma, recognized this at the outset as a clear possibility and contacted Kyma to see if they wanted to be an industrial partner of the Center. The answer was enthusiastic and affirmative.

Kyma has already successfully transferred that process and has created a number of 2” diameter WS₂ crystals. In an effort led by Chief Science Officer Jacob Leach, the company is currently in the process of extending that process to 4” diameter substrates, an important step in understanding its commercialization potential.

Professor Joshua Robinson said, “We are keenly aware of the potential for 2-D materials as the foundation of a variety of novel technologies, and the key to its success is being able to team with industrial partners that can take our fundamental research and turn it into industrially compatible processes.  Kyma was a natural fit for us, as they have been at the leading edge of novel electronic materials synthesis and scale-up for many years.  The Center is fortunate to have a partner like Kyma and is excited to continue a long relationship in developing large scale 2-D materials for the electronics industry.”

Kyma President & CEO Keith Evans added, “This is an exciting new research area that has great potential to bring new capabilities and functionalities to our future. The Penn State Center is taking a leadership role in the science and engineering of these materials and it is a great pleasure to be one of their partners.”

About the Penn State Center for Two Dimensional and Layered Materials

The mission of the Center for Two Dimensional and Layered Materials is to conduct leading international and multidisciplinary research on 2D layered materials aiming at finding new phenomena and applications that could be transformed into high impact products.

For more information about the Center, visit http://www.mri.psu.edu/centers/2dlm/.

About Kyma Technologies

Kyma’s mission is to provide advanced materials solutions that promote safety and energy efficiency. Kyma’s products include a diverse portfolio of crystalline nitride semiconductor materials, crystal growth and fabrication equipment, and power switching electronics. Additionally, the company is developing a suite of novel chemical and electromagnetic field sensor technologies.

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.