Jan 18 2007
Kyma Technologies, Inc. (Kyma) has been awarded up to $3.3M under a new multi-year contract by the Department of Defense, with funding support from both the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Under the new contract, Kyma is focusing its efforts on advancing GaN-based high-power high-frequency (HPHF) electronic device technology by employing Kyma’s low defect density native GaN substrate materials. Native GaN has the potential to enhance the performance and reliability of a variety of radar, electronic warfare, communications and optoelectronic systems essential to the Department of Defense.
Mr. John Blevins of AFRL’s Materials Directorate is the technical monitor, while Dr. Drew Hanser, Kyma’s CTO and VP Business Development, is the principal investigator. The new contract strongly leverages the achievements and plans of Kyma’s recently announced cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) with AFRL and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and several MDA SBIR/STTR awards that Kyma has recently won.
“While today’s HPHF GaN device technology has reached impressive performance levels, reliability issues remain which we believe are tied to the current reliance on foreign substrates. Kyma’s native GaN has the potential to solve these problems by enabling a higher quality device active region. Our overall approach is to use the best materials possible, prove out the device benefits, while working in parallel to make these materials more readily available,” said Hanser.
Dr. Keith Evans, Kyma’s president and CEO, added, “This program represents an important contribution to our mission to provide our customers with a range of best-in-class III-nitride products. We are thankful for the vision and the support of our DoD colleagues and are dedicated to making this a successful effort.”