SixLine Semiconductor finally enables next-generation electronics based on aligned carbon nanotubes. SixLine’s patented technologies meet key performance and integration needs in wireless communication while providing a strong cost advantage. SixLine’s nanotube arrays also have the potential to address massive opportunities in future logic/computing and sensing technologies.
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Katy Jinkins
Katy Jinkins is the co-founder and CEO of SixLine Semiconductor, a startup on a mission to finally enable next-generation, high-performance electronics based on carbon nanotubes. Jinkins co-invented the technology at the heart of SixLine through her doctoral work in Michael Arnold’s laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned her Ph.D. Before co-founding SixLine, Jinkins was a postdoctoral scholar in John Rogers’ lab at Northwestern University.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
Global demand for wirelessly connected devices (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 5G, etc.) has increased exponentially over the last two decades, driven by the growth of personal electronics and the Internet of Things (IoT). Meeting this demand has pushed device communications to higher frequencies, which enables higher connection quality and larger bandwidths. The pursuit of higher frequencies has driven the need for new integration techniques in which both wireless communication and computing components are combined on a single chip. Additionally, new materials must be utilized in wireless devices to achieve the necessary improvements in data bandwidth, energy-efficiency, and functionality while continuing to shrink component footprint.
Technology Vision
Carbon nanotube arrays from SixLine Semiconductor offer a cost-competitive solution to meet these growing demands of next-generation wireless communication. SixLine’s patented technology overcomes longstanding materials, integration, and manufacturing challenges to organize semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes, or cylinders of carbon atoms with diameters of roughly one nanometer, into densely-packed aligned arrays. Due to their exceptional electronic properties, these arrays offer superior performance, compared to incumbent materials, in wireless electronics, including operation at higher frequencies. Importantly, Sixline can deposit the nanotube arrays at room temperature onto almost any platform, enabling previously unfeasible integration of high-performance wireless devices directly on conventional silicon-based logic.
Potential for Impact
SixLine’s technology will comprehensively address problems related to wireless communication and connectedness, enabling electronics with higher energy-efficiency, faster performance, and increased data transmission bandwidth. Nanotube-based devices will enable the development of future products and technologies, including personal electronics, IoT networks, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, with unprecedented performance and functionality. In addition to providing solutions for next-generation wireless communication, SixLine’s nanotube arrays also promise to broadly revolutionize semiconductor electronics by improving the energy-efficiency and speed of computing and enhancing the sensitivity of biosensors, among other applications.