GOC

Nantero announced today that it’s collaborating with SVTC Technologies to accelerate the commercialization of nanotube-based electronics products.

Nantero, Inc., a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, said it’s developed a “CMOS-friendly” proprietary CNT process that it will install at SVTC’s two state-of-the-art development fabs, in San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas.

By doing so, the two companies say they expect to enable potential licensees of Nantero to develop and commercialize the use of CNTs in SVTC’s IP-secure environment.

CNTs are cylindrical carbon molecules about a nanometer across and up to a millimeter long. Exhibiting extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties and efficient heat conduction, these molecules hold tremendous promise for a variety of semiconductor, nanotechnology and optics applications.

Greg Schmergel, chief executive officer of Nantero, said that by placing their CNT process module at SVTC, they are now able to support multiple co-development relationships across a growing array of CMOS-grade CNT devices. Their development partners now have the opportunity to develop CNT products in a third-party environment using state-of-the-art capabilities that will transfer to their own production environments.

Leveraging the collaboration, SVTC officials say they’ll be able to commercialize new process and device developments in the semiconductor, MEMS and related nanotechnology domains, with support for a direct path between the work completed in SVTC’s facilities to high-volume manufacturing.

According to Nantero, CNTs is an ideal area for SVTC, since the carbon nanotubes demonstrated in research labs are neither being translated into commercial products nor manufactured in high volumes. Both companies can offer CNT device development capabilities for customers targeting a wide range of applications including photovoltaics (solar cells), LEDs, sensors, MEMS and other semiconductor-based devices.

Dave Bergeron, SVTC’s chief executive officer, said that he’s seen interest in CNTs coming from a number of companies looking to integrate CNTs with CMOS. He said he’s confident that Nantero and SVTC have the technology and experience to accelerate their efforts.