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‘Graphene-rolling-technologies’

Largest U.S. Producer of Electronics Grade CVD Graphene and hBN

April 30, 2020

La Jolla ShoresGrolltex is a UCSD

Spinout

Bae et al Nat. Nanotechnol. 2010, 5, 574–578.

Breakthrough: Large-scale graphene synthesis via CVD

2010

New Production Process!

➢CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) is used to

make sheet graphene

➢Enables high quality, large area production on

copper substrate

➢No single layer process before this

Problem: Graphene Removal is Impractical

1. Etching Cu; very slow, Cu substrate destroyed

2. Solution based; very slow, modified Cu not

practically reusable

3. Neither technique well suited for quality

control or mass production

Critical breakthrough in single layer synthesis but ‘transfer problems’ prevent implementation

• Process re-uses copper, not destroyed

• Reused Cu = better quality graphene

• Orders of magnitude faster throughput:

Minutes vs. Hours

• Equipment needed is off the shelf

Grolltex/UCSD Patent

Solution: Patented Grolltex Transfer Process

GROLLTEX PROCESS UNLEASHES MASSIVE GRAPHENE PRODUCTION AT LOW COST

Step 1:CVD Graphene synthesis

Step 2:Graphene metallization

Step 3:Graphene transfer and patterning

Proof of concept CVD system:• 3” reactor• 1 sq. ft. of graphene per day

Proof of concept system:• 4” thermal evaporator• 1 sq. ft. of graphene per day

Proof of concept:• Manual exfoliation• 1 sq. ft. of graphene per day

Synthesis reactor 1 (GRETA):• 18” reactor• 40 sq. ft. of graphene per day• 12.3K sq. ft. of graphene per year

Synthesis reactor 2 (TITAN):• 18”x18”x24” reactor• 1500 sq. ft. of graphene per day• 547,500 sq. ft. of graphene per year (8.3

million iPhone screens)

Synthesis reactor 3 (multi-unit shuttle system):• 24”x24”x48” reactor (10x in the system)• 315K sq. ft. of graphene per day• 115M million sq. ft. of graphene per year (1.74 billion iPhone screens)

Metallization chamber 1 (EVA):• 24” thermal evaporator• 20 sq. ft. of graphene per day• 7.3K sq. ft. of graphene per year

Metallization chamber 2 (ATS-27C):• 27” in-line e-beam evaporator• 5K sq. ft. per day• 1.8M sq. ft. per year

Exfoliation/lamination system (Rollo):• 10” rolls, manual feed• 200 sq. ft. per day• 73K sq. ft. of graphene per year

Exfoliation/lamination system (PEMS):• 16” rolls, 3 m/min automatic feed• 11K sq. ft. per day• 4M sq. ft. per year

Metallization chamber 3 (custom):• 48” in-line e-beam evaporator• >350K sq. ft. per day• >127M sq. ft. per year

Exfoliation/lamination system (custom):• 48” rolls, 3 m/min automatic feed• >350K sq. ft. per day• >127M sq. ft. per year

2016 2017 2021 2023< $5/sq. meter< $50/sq. meter< $500/sq. meter$80K /sq. meter

Science is done for low priced CVD graphene…

…need only $$ and engineering

All equipment shown exists in industry today

Graphene as ITO replacement on roadmap, but 2 nodes into the future = Grolltex too early

PATENTED GROLLTEX PROCESS ADDRESSES THESE CONSTRAINTS

TCE Industry, Future Display Materials Roadmap: Circa 2015

Grolltex Two Phase Business Plan

Phase I: Start research materials business

• Set up lab and ‘Alpha’ toolset

• Service university, biotech, research market demand

• Study early use case needs and volumes

Phase II: Based on market needs, roll out products

• Unique value, high margins

• X-ray windows, flexible displays, solar cells,

biosensors, CMOS photo-sensors, etc.

• Leverage unique value, patent portfolio

Highest quality US graphene available

- Grolltex inspects all of its materials on industry leading advanced equipment such as Renishaw Raman spectroscopy tools and Zeiss optical and SEM microscopes- Our products are synthesized in an atmosphere free environment, then double vacuum wrapped in a nitrogen box for optimum shelf life

CVD Graphene on Copper CVD Graphene on Si/SiO2 CVD Graphene on Your Substrate

CVD hBN on Si/SiO2CVD hBN on Copper CVD hBN on Your Substrate

Grolltex Customers: Today

This section: List of prior competitors that are now

Grolltex customers

Grolltex Customers: Today

This section: List of prior competitors that are now

Grolltex customers

Sensing = 40% of Phase I revenue to date

Sensor customers ramping factories

Bio-sensors largest share of that activitySensors

Very high margins, TAM: >$3B

Sensors

X-ray windows

Lens coatings

Hydrogen cracking

Heater: wing de-icing

Heat sink

Surface enhancement

Proton exchange membrane

Micro electrodes for energygeneration

Flexible, unbreakable displays

Advanced OLED’s

Solar cells

Grolltex biosensors, materials and applications*

‘Crispr Chip’ Cas 9:DNA sensing

Cardio/BP monitor: watch type

Cardio/BP monitor: Skin patch

Label free assay G-FET: Drug discovery

Mobile food allergen sensor

Glucose sensor: sweat based

Shipping materials or finished devices for three years: No longer theoretical applications

* Generic images; products protected

Glucose sensor: saliva based

DNA/protein biomarker detection

Materials supplier Device maker/Foundry

Grolltex: Graphene biosensors on plastic vs. silicon

Plastic substrate

Reference

electrodes

Graphene

sensor strip

Contact pads

Removable

probe

electrodes

Blister

encapsulation

Preserved

environment

in the blister

Pipette tip

punctures

the blister

Break-out sensor blister array

On Plastic = >100x cost reduction, near limitless form factors: Grolltex as foundry or designer

Configurable Graphene Digital Biosensors

Plastic substrate

Reference

electrodes

Graphene

sensor strip

Contact pads

Removable

probe

electrodes

Blister

encapsulation

Preserved

environment

in the blister

Pipette tip

punctures

the blister

Break-out sensor blister arrayProtect sensor environment

Pre-charge with functionalizing chemistry Three form factors available:

1) Blister Pack 2) ‘96 well plate’, micro-well format 3) Multiplexed microfluidic array chip

Small molecule - DNA detection – glucose – pathogens - protein receptor – allergens - bacterial sensing – virus detection

Graphene multiplexed, microfluidic array chip; cost…pennies each

✓ Genomics✓ Transcriptomics✓ Proteomics✓ Metabolomics

Answers in minutes, <$1.00

per result

1

2

3

Solution: Grolltex Process Reuses CopperSummary

▪ Grolltex is ready to support CVD graphene transfer at high volumes

➢ Equipment, characterization, recipes; all are in place

▪ Science done for <$5/sq. meter: Just $$ and execution needed

▪ Industry says: “Great, but not needed yet”

▪ Last three years of Grolltex ‘retail’ sales shows ‘biosensing’ is leading

application

▪ Grolltex Progression:

➢ Research materials – sensor materials – biosensor foundry on plastic

Contact: Support@Grolltex.com

Thank you

Back Up Materials

Single layer graphene transfer at industrial scale

1. Grow single layer graphene on copper

by CVD

2. Metallize graphene 3. Apply transfer/resist tape 4. Exfoliate metallized 2D material

Metallic film (Ni, Co, alloys, composite films)

2D material on growth substrate Transfer/photoresist film

5. Laminate metallized 2D material to PET with or without removal of

transfer tape

PET sheet

Substrate is available for new 2D material synthesis

Pattern the resist

or

7a. Continuous 2D material on plastic 6. Etch metal

Metal etchant solution

or

7a. Continuous 2D material on plastic with

patterned metallic features

US Patent #9,418,839 B2

<$10/sq meter easily attainable with

today’s equipment

Why use ‘large-area, monolayer’ (CVD) graphene?

Monolayer graphene is the ultimate sensor material for the following reasons:

A) Thinnest material (lowest surface-to-volume ratio – electron density changes upon molecule

absorption)

B) Highest conductivity (smallest currents/voltages required)

C) Highest electron mobility (high sensitivity, fast response)

D) Transparency (allows optical manipulations)

E) Easy to functionalize, bio-compatible (can be used for thousands of different analytes)

No other material -including alternate forms of graphene - offers this combination of sensing performance capability with practical manufacturability

Graphene synthesis methods

1) Top Down: Reduce existing carbon structure; use for mechanical strength

2) Bottom Up: Assemble carbon atoms in lattice via synthesis; use to make electronic devices

Grolltex Focus: Electronic devices

Sample Product Specifications

Customer testimonials:“Grolltex provides very high-quality graphene wafers. Grolltex has better "processability" than the competitors.”

“Other vendors do not seem to understand how electronics is manufactured in batches of wafers. Grolltex has designed their process appropriately for batch production.”

“Best price and performance we have found to date.”