Kyma Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of advanced materials solutions that promote safety and energy efficiency, has been selected by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) for $3.2M in funding to advance the technology for manufacturing crystalline gallium nitride (GaN) substrates.

Kyma is one of 8 small businesses and 14 companies overall that were selected for awards under the SWITCHES program, which is short for “Strategies for Wide-Bandgap, Inexpensive Transistors for Controlling High-Efficiency Systems.” All of the grants were awarded to firms that are finding innovative ways to lower the cost and improve the efficiency of power electronics.

Kyma’s SWITCHES project promises to realize high quality low cost GaN substrates via application of Kyma’s patented and proprietary high growth rate gallium nitride (GaN) crystal growth technology to ultra-high quality seeds.

Kyma Chief Science Officer Jacob Leach is the Principle Investigator on the project. Leach received his PhD in Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where he studied the physics of high speed GaN transistor technology under the direction of internationally renowned Professor Hadis Morkoc.

Kyma’s President and CEO Keith Evans commented, “We thank ARPA-E for their vision and support of a growing portfolio of projects which are transformational in terms of their potential impact on the environment as well as our nation’s future competitiveness in critically important green technologies.”

About ARPA-E

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. ARPA-E awardees are unique because they are developing entirely new ways to generate, store, and use energy.

ARPA-E projects have the potential to radically improve U.S. economic prosperity, national security, and environmental well being. We focus on transformational energy projects that can be meaningfully advanced with a small investment over a defined period of time. Our streamlined awards process enables us to act quickly and catalyze cutting-edge areas of energy research.

ARPA-E empowers America's energy researchers with funding, technical assistance, and market readiness. Our rigorous program design, competitive project selection process, and active program management ensure thoughtful expenditures. ARPA-E Program Directors serve for limited terms to ensure a constant infusion of fresh thinking and new perspectives.

For more information about ARPA-E, visit http://arpa-e.energy.gov/.

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.