Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT), a high tech startup in Michigan’s Capitol Region, was selected for funding under the US Navy’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program to develop diamond based semiconductor pulse shaper technology.
The principal investigator (PI) on the project is Dr. Paul Quayle, GLCT’s director of crystal growth, a leading expert in single crystal diamond manufacturing technology. Michigan State University (MSU) is a subcontractor to GLCT on the effort, led by MSU diamond materials and device experts Professors Sergey Baryshev and Tim Grotjohn – both are in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Professor Grotjohn is a co-founder of GLCT and its lead technical advisor.
GLCT’s proposal entitled “Diamond Based Semiconductor Pulse Shaper” seeks to develop novel diamond based electronics which can sharpen a driving electrical pulse rise time from 3-5 ns to < 300 ps, which if successful will define a new state of the art in electrical pulse sharpening technology which could improve the performance of high power microwave (HPM) pulse generators. Applications which could benefit include linear particle accelerators (LINACs) used in medicine and at advanced beam lines like those within the US Department of Energy laboratories, as well as certain defense and non-defense applications.
GLCT’s president and CEO, Keith Evans, commented, “We are pleased to obtain Navy SBIR support for this innovative project which wouldn’t be possible without accessing the advanced diamond device expertise at MSU.”
GLCT’s project benefits from matching funds from Spartan Innovations and Red Cedar Ventures, both subsidiaries of MSU Foundation, and also the Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund (ETF) which is managed by Michigan’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
About Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT)
GLCT is a spin out of the world-class diamond research collaboration between Michigan State University (MSU) and MSU-located Fraunhofer USA Center for Coatings and Diamond Technologies (CCD). GLCT’s mission is to become the leading supplier of large area single crystal diamond materials for non-gemstone applications.
