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Back in 2011 , the world harbor its breath after the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant in Japan ache a failure of its cooling scheme , in the backwash of the country getting murder by a 9.0 magnitude temblor and tsunami . The worry was not unfounded : The ensue nuclear meltdown — which circularise highly radioactive material in multiple directions — became one of the worst nuclear - related calamity of all time .
More than a decennary on , the cleanup is still in progress . Last calendar month , the Japanese government start a testing procedure toremove radioactive debrisin and around the flora — a significant whole step in the plant ’s decommissioning process , expected to be completed by 2051 .
A groundbreaking ceremony startup from Japan , Ookuma Diamond gadget ( ODD ) , is roleplay a fascinating part in the process , by room of diamond - flake - powered amplifiers that are being used in efforts to remove radioactive rubble . And now it has raised 4 billion hankering , tantamount to more or less $ 27 million , to construct the world ’s first baseball diamond semiconductor manufacturing adeptness in nearby Ookuma , also in Fukushima .
ODD ’s plans are to build the factory in January 2025 and have it up and run by summer 2026 .
Why practice diamond chips rather than traditional Si - based semiconductor ?
Diamond is live as awide - bandgap ( WBG ) semiconducting material stuff ; others includeSiC ( atomic number 14 carbide ) and GaN ( gallium nitride ) . WBG materials are consider to have better power transition efficiency and exceptional thermal management .
Unlike silicon - ground CPUs , GPUs , and NPUs , the rhombus - based chip does not have a circuit complex body part . baseball diamond semiconductors act more like potent control equipment than little electrical energy sources , Coral Capital collaborator Ken Nishimura told TechCrunch . He said that the diamond semiconductor will be used in big facilities such as atomic business leader plant that require super high temperature and radioactivity levels , which silicon - based flake can not resist .
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Diamond semiconductor unit amplifier operate under 300 ° C have been successfully prototyped using the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology ( AIST ) and Hokkaido University facilities .
“ Diamond semiconductor gadget , which we develop , are basically different from traditional silicon - based Saratoga chip due to their superior material attribute , ” Yuhei Nagai , CFO of Ookuma Diamond gadget , said in an exclusive audience with TechCrunch . Compared to other in advance semiconductors like SiC and GaN , diamond semiconductors provide higher-ranking power rebirth efficiency and improved caloric management for next - contemporaries technology such as 6 thou , space , defense , and nuclear , he proceed .
It ’s also notable that infield buffalo chip can be made from methane accelerator pedal , potentially enabling full yield in Japan . This is in line toGaN , which relies on sourcing material heavily hold in by China .
ODD ’s focus is on developing “ everlasting infield semiconductor unit , ” rather than GaN semiconductors on a baseball diamond substrate , Nagai said . The market size for diamond materials used in chips is expected to grow to $ 10 billion by 2032 , up from $ 113.7 million in 2023,according to a late report .
The startup , a spinout from Japan ’s AIST and Hokkaido University , was specifically found in 2021 to facilitate with decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power flora .
Two co - father , Dr. Junichi Kaneko and Dr. Hitoshi Umezawa , have researched baseball diamond poker chip for over 20 long time . They found their body of work thrown into the spotlight after the disaster , which spelled more resource for R&D and spurred the founding of the startup . ODD built the world ’s first hardheaded diamond chip in 2021 .
The leaps between theory , chip , and last product are still significant . The two cobalt - founder are also leading the Japanese administration ’s spacious internal project to make an real Cartesian product that could remove radioactive debris from instinctive disasters .
“ The [ ODD ’s ] prototypes represent a Earth - first accomplishment — no one else has been capable to develop run diamond semiconductor amplifiers to this point , ” said Nagai .
A handful of spheric companies are also develop baseball diamond semiconductor , includingDiamfab in France , Element Six in the U.K. , and A.L.M.T. in Japan , a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric Industries .
ODD set itself aside by claiming to be the only one with end - to - end expertness , from substrate to packaging , activate the world ’s prototype of a baseball field semiconductor amplifier .
ODD is also talk with more than 10 potential customers worldwide in the nuclear power plant , aerospace , and telephone service industry , Nagai order — an arena that this week stick increased focal point after it come forth thatGooglesigned a heap to work on powering data point centers with nuclear power .
Globis Capital Partners led the recent financial backing , which bring its aggregate enhance to approximately $ 45 million ( 6.7 billion yen ) since its inception , with participation from Coral Capital , aSTART , Green Co - Invest Investment , Japan Post Bank Spiral Regional Innovation Fund , Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital , SMBC Venture Capital , among others .
The startup , which currently has 27 employees , has also received around $ 15 million in governance Duncan James Corrow Grant from the Cabinet Office , METI , MIC , ATLA , and the Reconstruction Agency .
