In 2011, the world held its breath after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan suffered a failure in its cooling systems, after the country was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. The concern was not unfounded: the resulting meltdown, which spread highly radioactive materials in multiple directions, became one of the worst nuclear disasters of all time.
More than a decade later, the cleanup is still ongoing. Last month, the Japanese government began a test procedure to remove radioactive waste in and around the plant, an important step in the plant's decommissioning process, which is expected to be completed in 2051.
An innovative startup from Japan, Ookuma Diamond Device (ODD), is playing a fascinating role in the process, through diamond chips being used in efforts to dispose of radioactive waste, using amplifiers powered by diamond chips. And now, it has raised 4 billion yen, equivalent to about $27 million, to build the world's first diamond semiconductor manufacturing facility in nearby Ookuma, also in Fukushima.
ODD's plans are to build the factory in January 2025 and have it operational by summer 2026.
Why use diamond chips instead of traditional silicon-based semiconductors?
Diamond is known as a wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor material – others include SiC (silicon carbide) and GaN (gallium nitride). WBG materials are considered to have better energy conversion efficiency and exceptional thermal management.
Unlike silicon-based CPUs, GPUs and NPUs, the diamond-based chip does not have a circuit structure. Diamond semiconductors act more like powerful management devices than small sources of electricity, Cocal Capital partner Ken Nishimura told TechCrunch. He said the diamond semiconductor will be used in larger facilities, such as nuclear power plants, that require super-high temperatures and radiation levels, which silicon-based chips cannot withstand.
Diamond semiconductor amplifiers operating at less than 300°C have been successfully prototyped using facilities at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Hokkaido University.
“The diamond semiconductors we develop are fundamentally different from traditional silicon-based chips due to their superior material properties,” said Yuhei Nagai, CFO of Ookuma Diamond Gadget, in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. Compared to other advanced semiconductors such as SiC and GaN, diamond semiconductors provide superior power conversion efficiency and improved thermal management for next-generation technologies such as 6G, space, defense and nuclear energy, he continued.
It is also notable that diamond chips can be made from fuel methane, which could allow full production in Japan. This is in contrast to GaN, which relies on heavily controlled materials sourcing from China.
The goal of ODD is to develop “pure diamond semiconductors,” rather than GaN semiconductors on a diamond substrate, Nagai said. The market size of diamond materials used in chips is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2032, up from $113.7 million in 2023, according to a recent report.
The startup, a spin-off company from Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Hokkaido University, was founded specifically in 2021 to help with the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Two co-founders, Dr. Junichi Kaneko and Dr. Hitoshi Umezawa, have researched diamond chips for more than 20 years. They found that their work came into the spotlight after the disaster, which meant more resources for R&D and spurred the founding of the startup. ODD built the world's first practical diamond chip in 2021.
The leaps between theory, chip and final product remain important. The two co-founders are also leading a broader national project by the Japanese government to make a current product that can remove radioactive waste from natural disasters.
“He [ODD’s] The prototypes represent a global achievement: no one else has been able to develop working diamond semiconductor amplifiers to this point,” Nagai said.
A handful of global companies are also developing diamond semiconductors, including Diamfab in France, Element Six in the United Kingdom, and ALMT in Japan, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electrical Industries.
ODD distinguishes itself by claiming to be the only one with end-to-end expertise, from substrate to packaging, making the global prototype of a diamond semiconductor amplifier possible.
ODD is also talking to more than 10 potential customers around the world in the nuclear power plant, aerospace and telecommunications industries, Nagai said, an area that received increased attention this week after it emerged that Google signed a deal to work on powering data centers with nuclear energy. force.
Globis Capital partners led the recent financing, which brings the total raised to approximately $45 million (6.7 billion yen) since inception, with participation from Coral Capital, aSTART, Inexperienced Co-Make investments Funding, the Spiral Regional Innovation of Japan Public Bank and Mitsui Sumitomo. Insurance Venture Capital, SMBC Enterprise Capital, among others.
The startup, which currently has 27 employees, has also received around $15 million in government grants from the Cabinet Office, METI, MIC, ATLA and the Reconstruction Agency.
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