Illuminex Corporation was founded in 2003 by CEO and MIT trained physicist Dr. Youssef M Habib who guides the company's progress in engineering innovative nanotechnology enabled devices.om it’s humble beginnings in a storage closet on the campus of Millersville University, the company has experienced steady growth, and now owns and occupies three state of the art nanotechnology research laboratories, with over 5000 sq. ft. of space. Located in the Burle Industrial Park (Formerly RCA), Illuminex Corporation has room to grow in this former manufacturing center. The company was founded with the goal of developing low-cost processing techniques to create functional nano-materials that can enable a new generation of technologies based on the unique properties of materials on the nano-scale. The company has focused on a proprietary nanowire array platform for the development of nanomaterials manufacturing techniques and the design of innovative device applications based on the company’s nanowire arrays. Illuminex first patent on its core technology was issued in May 2010.
In mid 2006, Illuminex converted acquired the 3400 square feet laboratory space that was originally the RCA analytical chemistry lab and is a fully-equipped chemistry laboratory suitable to much of Illuminex’s research and development efforts and has modest manufacturing capability. In mid 2008, Illuminex expanded into an additional 1333 square feet to set up it’s e-beam, sputter, and thermal evaporation equipment and it’s electron microscope facility. Currently, the company is finishing the construction of a new laboratory (1340 sq. ft.) to house its new CVD reacto. For silicon nanowire array production. In addition to an affiliation with Millersville University, Illuminex also has collaborative relationships with the Pennsylvania State University (our STTR partner), MIT, Drexel University, Philadelphia University, University of Toronto, the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (a teaching hospital that is part of the Penn. State University). Illuminex also has collaborative corporate development, marketing, and manufacturing relationships with Thermacore Inc., Raytheon Company, Ford, Burle Industries, Plextronics, and MaxPower to assist in bringing its nanowire array device technologies to market.
Nano-wires are made up of tiny strands of material. Nanowire arrays resemble bristles, ordered groups of high-aspect ratio structures attached to a substrate on one end. The diameter of the nanowires is 20-900 nm, while the length can be 100nm to 100mm. Illuminex can control the metrics of the nanowire array to achieve specific results, as shown schematically in Figure 1. These tiny strands or wires can be grown from a variety of materials, including metals, semi-conductors, and dielectrics. The nanowires can be grown on a variety of substrates, including glass, plastic, and metals, all in a variety of configurations. The unique physical properties manifested due to the size of the nanowires allow for improved device performance with minimal material consumption. . Due to their small size, nanowires have exceptional electronic, optical, and mechanical properties that enable devices to be engineered with extraordinary capabilities. For example, nanowires have exceptional light absorption (they are on the same size scale as the wavelength of light), tremendous capillary action, and unique electrical capabilities that are used to enable Illuminex photovoltaic, heat pipe, and battery applications respectively.
Since inception, Illuminex has attracted over $5 million in funding through Federal and PA State research grants. Further, Illuminex has also funded its growth through research and development contracts and direct sales of nanowire array substrates for other corporate and University based R & D. Illuminex is an early-stage nanotechnology company dedicated to developing nanowire device technology that is sophisticated yet practical. The ability to reliably engineer nanowire arrays of numerous different materials in a wide range of sizes and attach them over large areas to many substrate materials and geometries is the company's core technology. The company is focused on developing processing techniques that will allow the nanomaterials to readily be manufactured on large industrial scales to bring the advanced technology to consumers at low cost. Some of the nano-manufacturing breakthrough processing techniques developed by Illuminex could lead to a multitude of potential applications in energy, thermal management, sensors, bio-medical, and many other fields. Nanowires can be utilized to improve existing technologies and also develop devices that simply don't exist today. Illuminex seeks to develop practical, industrial scale manufacturing techniques to produce functional nanomaterials for 21st century innovation. The true application of bottom up manufacturing and the novel device designs that are being developed using these unique materials will guide future advances in applied nanotechnology at Illuminex.
Illuminex has initially focused on two applications to initially deploy nanowire device technology: heat pipes and photovoltaic cells (solar power). The heat pipe is the most advanced product followed by the photovoltaic. The company is also developing a silicon copper nano-composite material for use as an anode in lithium ion batteries, which is a natural extension of Illuminex other devices, as it uses the Cu nanowire array structures developed for heat pipe applications as the base electrode which is then coated with silicon using the extensive silicon processing expertise the company has gained from its large body of photovoltaic work. The company believes that it can produce and introduce products into the heat pipe market in the next two years and the photovoltaic market within the next three to four years. The revenues from these products will then help the company to fully realize the potential of the technology platform without too much investment from outside capital. Illuminex has already established contacts and strategic partners in both markets and is ready to execute the product development program. This will substantially involve developing processes to scale up the production of nanowire arrays for manufacturing.
The Illuminex Corporation R&D facility is located within the Burle Industrial Park at 1064 New Holland Ave., Lancaster PA 17601. Illuminex either owns, or has access to, all the facilities and equipment required to carry out nanowire materials and device development programs to meet the most demanding customer needs. Illuminex has office space that is fully equipped with computers, telephones, copiers, fax, scanners, and other office equipment.
Illuminex hasrecently received a $185,910 grant from the State of PA Solaer energy program and is just completeing additional 1340 sq. ft. facility will house a CVD Equipment FirstNano Easy Tube 3000 CVD (Figure 2) system designed for silicon nanowire growth. A new magnetron sputter coating system is also being built by the Illuminex team so supplement the CVD, e-beam, thermal and other thin film-nanostructure processing equipment the company owns. This equipment will be used extensively in this SBIR project and is currently being installed for operation in early 2010.
Illuminex research laboratories are equipped with five exhaust hoods (3 six foot and 2 four foot), two 12” wet chemistry benches and ten other research benches (three with sinks). Infrastructure includes in-house high pressure air, nitrogen, hydrogen, fume hood exhaust w/scrubber, high-voltage and high-amperage conditioned power and chemical waste capable drains. The lab is equipped with numerous basic Chemical Laboratory Supplies including: Millipore DI water, Viscometer, Power Supplies, Variacs, Clamps/Stands, Burners, Hardware, Impinger, Ultrasonic Cleaners, Hot Plate/Stirrers, an extensive supply of assorted Chemistry Glassware, Metal Ware and Plastic Ware, Conductivity Meter, pH Meter, Gravitometer, Heat Guns, Power Conditioners, Gas Regulators, Balances, Measurement Gauges, Dewars, Filtration Systems, Flammable Material and Chemical storage cabinets, and other Miscellaneous Items. Illuminex also owns specialized analytical equipment consisting of: Four Custom Engineered Computer Controlled NW Processing Stations, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, Electroplating Stations, IR Temperature Gauges, UV-VIS-IR Absorption/Reflection Spectrometer, High Voltage Power Supplies and Meters, Fiber Optic Assemblies and Test Equipment, FTIR with Microscope and Spectral Library and numerous accessories, DynaPro Nanoscale Optical Particle Size Analyzer, pH Meters, Conductivity Meter, Monochromator, Two 1200o C Furnaces, Two Large Ultrasonic Baths, Temperature Controlled Bath (5 Gallon, 0-100 C), Mixing Mill, Precision Balance, Emergency Shower and Eyewash, Hardness Tester, Coercivity Meter, Gauss Meter, Optical Meters, Light Sources, Optics and Lenses, Raman Systems SERS Reader, Oscilloscopes, Function Generators, Amplifiers, Inductance-Capacitance Meters, Network Analyzer, Gauss Meters, Leica Microscope W/CCD Camera, Digital Cameras, Multi-Gas capable Hydrogen Reactor Furnace, Thermal Metal Evaporator, E-Beam evaporators, Inspection Microscopes, Full Solar cell characterization facility, ISI-140 SEM with 1 nm resolution and a full tool room with drill press, band saw and grinder in addition to a multitude of electronic test and measurement equipment.
Illuminex Corporation is a leading edge nanotechnology company located in Lancaster, PA. The driving force behind the company is Dr. Youssef (Joe) Habib, an MIT trained physicist who has been involved in nanotechnology ventures since 1999. Dr. Habib’s efforts to create a reliable and economical process to manufacture nano-scale devices led him to form Illuminex in 2003. Dr. Habib is the primary owner of the company, which is organized as a Subchapter C corporation. Under Dr. Habib’s leadership, Illuminex has placed Dr. Marc-Oliver Mewes, an MIT trained physicist, contributor to two Nobel Prize winning projects, and former member of Monitor Group, on the board to provide the company with scientific and business advice and guidance. Prof. Joan Redwing, of the Penn. State Materials Science and Engineering Department, is also on the board and is the prime subcontractor on two current STTR projects from which she provides expertise in nanowire photovoltaic development efforts through her extensive research in silicon nanowire technology. Fortifying the leadership capacity of Illuminex is Dr. Robert Caracciolo, CTO, who has extensive industrial experience and is planning the core technology scale up for large scale manufacturing of nanowire arrays for energy saving/enabling applications. Dr Caracciolo is leading the company’s pursuit of applying nano-structured silicon technology for lithium ion battery anode applications. Dr. Lyman Rickard, Vice President of Chemical Engineering has an extensive chemistry background in bottom up nanotechnology process development, he earned his PhD from the Florida Institute of Technology and guides all of the chemical processes utilized to manufacture the arrays of nanowires for application development. The current Illuminex staff is currently10 and is anticipated to reach 15; including two additional PhD’s by the end of 2010.
To gain access to the broadest base of knowledge capital for the company, Illuminex has also engaged several important outside resources. The law firm of Sabety +associates, PLLC is retained to provide patent, intellectual property, and licensing counsel. Ted Sabety is an expert in nanotechnology law regarding the development, exploitation, and protection of intellectual property and helps formulate Illuminex business strategy from an IP standpoint, and further brings scientific expertise, holding degrees in Physics and Computer Science from Yale and Columbia, respectively. Illuminex has also worked with the Livingston group that specializes in nanotechnology investment. Davenport and Associates provides further business counsel, specializing in international law, and expands the company’s legal and financial expertise beyond that of its general counsel, Robert Hoffman. Accounting is done by Kathleen Roth of Key Business Essentials and Brian Wassell of Trout LLC is the CPA.
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