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Next-gen phone displays will be made of diamonds
A company aiming to put diamonds in your hand just got a big backing to make its diamond display technology a reality. AKHAN Semiconductor, specializing in lab-grown electronics-grade diamond materials, locked in $20 million to commercialize its product.
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AKHAN is taking on the competitive electronics display market. Corning, which makes Gorilla Glass, is the leader in the space. AKHAN thinks its underlying technologies and intellectual property will make it a dominant player. It plans to leverage its designs, processes, materials, and equipment to empower business leaders and engineers to develop and commercialize a new generation of products that are stronger, lighter, more powerful, and more heat tolerant.
"Everyone is in search of the sleekest cell phone that doesn't need to be protected by a bulky case, but that's only the beginning when it comes to AKHAN and our diamond technology," said founder Adam Khan. "Our diamond technology has a myriad of applications. With the capital raised and key additions to our leadership team, we can now scale quickly to meet the rapidly increasing demand for this enabling platform."
The premise is that screens can become harder and more durable without becoming heavier. The company's optical products take advantage of the properties of bulk natural diamonds in proprietary thin-films conducive for single & multilayer optical windows, mirrors, and lenses. As part of its commercialization efforts, the company will use the capital in part to expand its Gurnee, Illinois, facility, which it calls "Diamond Mine 1." AKHAN boasts that its proprietary Miraj Diamond Glass is six times stronger, 10 times harder, and resists heating significantly better than leading flagship competitor glass.
The company will add semiconductor alums to its leadership team along with the raise.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the AKHAN team at this moment", said new CEO Craig Mitchell, formerly the President of Invensas and General Manager of the Semiconductor IP Business at Xperi, a leading consumer and entertainment solutions licensing company. "I've been very impressed by AKHAN's Miraj Diamond technology and the substantial value it immediately brings to huge, important markets. I know through firsthand experience developing and licensing technologies over 30 years that this type of game-changing technology is rare and very special. I look forward to working with the AKHAN team, our partners, and customers to scale and broadly commercialize this technology around the world."