Somersham, Cambridgeshire – Paragraf, the UK-based company pioneering the mass production of graphene-based electronics with standard semiconductor processes, won a grant of £773,394 from Innovate UK in early 2024 for the purpose of supporting the scale up of manufacturing of six-inch device wafers from research to production quantities.
The grant places Paragraf as the lead of the UK-GRAFT: The UK graphene research and fabrication technology foundry project, part of the £11.5 million investment by Innovate UK, a subsidiary of UK Research and Innovation, into the UK semiconductor industry. The balance of the £1.4 million award for UK-GRAFT will be split among Paragraf’s partners in the project: the University of Birmingham, the University of Glasgow, Cupio Services Ltd and the UK Electronics Skills Foundation.
Cambridgeshire-based Paragraf’s proprietary graphene deposition process was originally developed using substrate wafers of varying materials, and research scale, primarily 2” wafer sizes. These wafers are capable of producing up to 1,500 graphene Hall sensor devices, or 64 larger graphene molecular sensors, per wafer. Pilot tests of six-inch wafers have increased on wafer volume capacity to over four times these numbers. The company’s new 43,000 ft.2 Huntingdon manufacturing facility is focussed on producing on six-inch wafers near term and even larger substrates in the future.
“The future of electronics lies in the adoption of advanced materials,” said Simon Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of Paragraf. “Scaling up our production of real-world devices that are prepared to solve significant problems in quantum computing, battery management, agritech, molecular sensing and many other arenas is a major step towards realising that future in a sustainable way. And the fact that we are able to do this here in the UK means that the country stands ready to lead the advanced materials revolution.”
About Paragraf
Paragraf is pioneering the mass production of graphene-based electronic devices using standard semiconductors processes. Our unique foundry capability produces differentiated graphene electronics as standard products that solve important problems in a range of applications, including automotive, industrial automation, cryogenics, healthcare and agri-tech.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. We work to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. With an annual budget of over £1 billion we provide businesses with the expertise, facilities and funding they need to test, demonstrate and evolve their ideas, driving UK productivity and economic growth.
