Tokyo's Orbray and De Beers' Element Six have established a reproducible process for one of the largest single-crystal diamond wafers yet, at three inches. How a sapphire trick beat the cracking problem that long held back diamond, the material many call the ultimate semiconductor.
The world's first factory built to mass-produce diamond semiconductors has opened in Okuma, the Fukushima town that hosts the wrecked Daiichi nuclear plant. How a material researchers chased for 40 years found its purpose in the place that needed it most.
JBIC and Japan's three megabanks have signed off on $2.221 billion in loans for the first three projects of a $550 billion US investment package—the price Tokyo paid to bring Trump's tariffs down from 25% to 15%. We unpack the deal, the dollar-funding crunch, and why critics call it a 'vaporware' bet.
Power Diamond Systems demonstrated the world's first actual power conversion using a diamond MOSFET in a DC-DC converter circuit. Following their recent 200V/1A switching milestone, this breakthrough advances diamond semiconductors from device-level testing to real circuit operation.
Japan's Power Diamond Systems, a Waseda University spinoff, achieved the world's first 200V/1A switching operation with a diamond MOSFET. With 550V breakdown voltage and 0.8A drain current in a single device, diamond semiconductors could surpass SiC and GaN as the ultimate power semiconductor for EVs and renewable energy.
Japan and the US have agreed on the first tranche of a massive $550 billion investment plan, including a $600 million lab-grown diamond factory in Georgia. With China controlling over 60% of global production, synthetic diamonds are being called "the next rare earth." But with a controversial profit-sharing deal, is this a smart bet or a high-risk, low-return gamble for Japan?