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Nextreme raises $8 M in series A financing
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 08 March 2005, 20:30 IST
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC: Nextreme Thermal Solutions, a developer of next generation thermoelectric materials and devices, today announced securing $8 million in Series A financing.
The $8 million round, funded by investment firms SpaceVest, Aurora Funds, Harris & Harris Group, Inc. and RTI International, will be used to develop thermoelectric devices to address acute thermal management problems in the semiconductor industry and to further develop the application base, including power generation and optical communications.
The technology, a thin-film superlattice material made from a semiconductor alloy, emerged from RTIs work with the U.S. Department of Defense. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have provided funding since 1993 for the companys development of the new materials and devices.
Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian, Director of RTIs Center for Thermoelectrics Research, led the research team that is credited with the creation. Our technology provides a unique platform from which superior heat-pumping devices can be fabricated for applications where density, speed and efficiency requirements are a premium , said Dr. Venkatasubramanian, who now also serves as Nextreme Chief Technology Officer.
As microcircuits steadily shrink in size, the semiconductor industry is for the first time reaching limitations in performance because of thermal, rather than electronic problems. For example, faster microprocessors generate hot spots that can reduce reliability and lead to technology failures.
Nextreme's superlattice material, when placed directly under a semiconductor hot spot, can efficiently pump heat from the semiconductor package. The form-factor of this ultra-thin thermoelectric device enables direct integration onto the semiconductor or into the chip package, providing an unobtrusive, high-performance, solid-state solution with no moving parts.