GoKawiilNexstrom develops equipment to grow 2D semiconductor materials on 300mm wafers
Singapore-based startup Nexstrom, incubated by Xora Innovation, has built a system called North Star designed to grow transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) directly onto standard 300mm chip wafers used in commercial foundries. These ultra-thin materials, just a few atomic layers deep, are seen as a potential alternative to silicon as transistors shrink toward physical limits. The company's approach draws on research from co-founder and chief scientist Lance Li.
As silicon transistors get smaller, controlling electron flow becomes harder, worsening leakage, heat and power loss—problems that threaten the industry's ability to keep packing more computing power onto chips amid soaring data center demand. Major players like TSMC, Intel and IMEC are already exploring 2D materials, but manufacturing them at commercial scale remains a major bottleneck, which is the specific challenge Nexstrom is targeting.
- Nexstrom's North Star system grows TMD materials directly on standard 300mm wafers used in chip fabs.
- 2D materials could help chipmakers overcome heat, leakage and power problems from shrinking silicon transistors.
- Nexstrom joins TSMC, Intel, IMEC and others racing to industrialize 2D semiconductor manufacturing at scale.
Source: techcrunch.com — Kate Park, 2026-09-22
Published there as: “Singapore’s Nexstrom wants to bring 2D semiconductors to chip fabs”
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