Nextreme Thermal Solutions Acquired by Laird Technologies

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Nextreme Thermal Solutions, a technology company spun off by RTI International in 2004, has been acquired by Laird Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Laird PLC.

Laird Technologies Inc. is a global leader in the design and supply of customized performance-critical components and systems for advanced electronics. It designs and manufactures some of the world’s highest rated, thermally conductive materials, including a broad range of thermoelectric modules and thermal assemblies for telecommunications and instrumentation.

Nextreme’s breakthrough technology, originally developed at RTI International and featured in journals including Nature and Nature Nanotechnology, is an innovative, thin-film thermoelectric technology that provides more efficient thermal management solutions for high-performance electronics and optical devices. The technology can also harvest thermal energy as a clean, efficient and renewable source of electricity.

Other applications include use in products for DNA amplification to promote real-time testing in healthcare, forensics and food safety.

Since being spun off by RTI in December 2004, Nextreme has focused on the commercializion of the technology. The company manufactures micro-scale electronics-cooling and energy-harvesting products for telecommunications, semiconductor, consumer, medical, aerospace and government markets.

Early development of the technology at RTI was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other Defense Department agencies, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Today, Nextreme is the largest commercial thin-film thermoelectric manufacturing facility in the United States, using fully scalable semiconductor processes to deliver new functionality at the chip, package and system levels.

“Transitioning this technology to Laird is a testament to RTI’s dedication to turning knowledge into practice,” said Jim Gibson, chief operating officer at RTI International. “This technology has the potential to significantly improve electronics and photonics in a variety of markets, including energy and health care. We are pleased that Laird is planning to carry this technology forward to worldwide market opportunities.”

“I am grateful to DARPA, ONR, ARL and AFRL for their critical and sustained support for the research in the area of nano-scale thin-film thermoelectric technology, which has led to the scientific breakthroughs and continued development of the technology,” said Rama Venkatasubramanian, Ph.D., director of RTI’s Center for Solid State Energetics and co-founder of Nextreme Thermal Solutions. “Their support has allowed us to meet the needs of the DoD and also made the Nextreme spin-off possible.”

RTI continues to conduct federally funded research and development of new thermoelectric materials and devices with the support of DARPA and other federal agencies, going beyond its success with nanoscale thin-film thermoelectric innovations.