Mike Krames, Leading world authority in LED technology,

joins iBeam Materials Board of Directors

SANTA FE, NM, August 28, 2019  – iBeam Materials, Inc., (“iBeam”) the world leader in the development of ion-beam crystal alignment of thin layers deposited on a variety of substrates for high-performance optoelectronic devices, announced today that Mike Krames, a leading world authority in the LED industry, has joined iBeam’s Board of Directors.

Dr. Mike Krames, an IEEE Fellow and currently President of Arkesso, LLC, a Silicon Valley technology and investment consulting firm, was formerly Chief Technology Officer at Soraa, Inc., an LED product company founded by Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura. Previously, he was Executive Vice President at Philips Lumileds, where he ran the Advanced Laboratories and pioneered programs in LED and related materials, devices, and systems for applications to lighting and displays. His group there developed the technology necessary to enable LEDs to serve as automotive headlights for the first time (Audi R8). He was also the first to identify the cause behind indium-gallium-nitride LED efficiency “droop” as Auger recombination, a controversial notion for wide bandgap semiconductors, but which has been proven out in independent experimental studies. From 1995 to 2000, he was an engineering scientist at Hewlett Packard Optoelectronics Division. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (High Honors) from University of Texas, Austin, and Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 “LEDs have already revolutionized the world of Lighting. iBeam’s technology opens up a new frontier for LED manufacturing and applications. It is exciting to be at the forefront of such a novel III-nitride materials platform, which has applications to electronics as well as optoelectronics”, said Krames.

III-nitride materials, the foundation of the LED lighting revolution as well as for GaN HEMT (High Electron Mobility Transistor) devices, are currently manufactured on single-crystal wafers, restricting both size, cost and thermal management. Under a US Department of Energy ARPA-E agency program, iBeam Materials has demonstrated LEDs and HEMT devices using a patented alternative process that allows manufacturers to deposit epitaxial GaN devices directly on a variety of substrates including thin, flexible large-area metal foils. This process delivers much lower thermal resistance and enables roll-to-roll manufacturing capability. 

About iBeam Materials

iBeam Materials is disrupting the Display, Lighting and Wearable Electronics industries by creating new game-changing product categories based on epitaxial GaN (Gallium Nitride)- devices grown on non-single crystal substrates (GaNoX). Located in Santa Fe, NM, and founded in 2011, iBeam specializes in use of an ion-beam technology for crystal alignment of thin layers providing for high-performance low-cost electronic devices on a variety of large-area substrates. For more information visit www.ibeammaterials.com/