Blackbody
Diamond thermal hardware for compute in orbit. Moving kilowatts off GPUs in a vacuum, where nothing else can.
We convert the world's idle gem diamond reactors into industrial capacity.
CVD growth, live
What we build
Two lines.
Electrodes
Diamond electrodes that destroy forever chemicals. Sold per gallon to the industries the EPA just put on the clock.
How
A gem reactor, retrofitted.
No new fab. The chamber already exists; we change what goes into it and what reads it.
-
01
Minimal hardware
A gas and power retrofit on an existing CVD chamber, plus an optical port. The operator keeps the asset.
-
02
The model
Optical emission and substrate temperature go to a growth model that corrects the recipe mid run, before the crystal is spoiled.
-
03
Every plate graded
The grade travels with the part and returns to the model as a labelled example. That loop is the compounding asset.
Why diamond.
Carries heat, holds off voltage, survives chemistry that eats every other electrode. Nothing else does all three.
Thermal conductivityW/m·K
1000
2200
5.9×
BandgapeV
10
5.47
1.6×
Breakdown fieldMV/cm
1
10
10
3.0×
Electron mobilitycm²/V·s
1000
2000
1.4×
HardnessGPa
100
90
3.6×
Diamond
4H-SiC
GaN
Si
Log scale, decades marked. The multiplier is against the strongest competing material in that row.
| Property | Diamond | 4H-SiC | GaN | Si |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal conductivity W/m·K | 2200 | 370 | 130 | 150 |
| Bandgap eV | 5.47 | 3.26 | 3.40 | 1.12 |
| Breakdown field MV/cm | 10 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 0.3 |
| Electron mobility cm²/V·s | 2000 | 900 | 1250 | 1450 |
| Hardness GPa | 90 | 25 | 12 | 11 |
| Potential window V, aqueous | 3.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Room temperature figures for high quality material.2 The potential window is what breaks carbon fluorine bonds instead of corroding the electrode.3
Where it goes
What the material is for.
01
Orbital thermal
In vacuum there is no convection. A machine in orbit can only radiate, and radiator area is among the heaviest things it carries. Diamond moves kilowatts off the die so less area has to be launched.
2200 W/m·KDie to radiatorBlackbody
02
Forever chemicals
Boron doped diamond has the widest aqueous potential window of any common electrode. That is what lets it break carbon fluorine bonds instead of corroding, destroying PFAS rather than moving it to another filter.
~3.0 V windowSold per gallonEPA limits, 2024
03
Power electronics
The highest breakdown field of any semiconductor, settled physics for decades. What blocks it is doped substrate quality, which is a materials problem, and that is the problem we work on.
10 MV/cm5.47 eV bandgapSubstrate limited
04
High power optics
Windows and spreaders that stay flat under beams that deform everything else, because heat leaves faster than it can distort the optic.
Beam windowsThermal lensingPolished both faces
05
Research substrates
Reliable work starts with reproducible material. Characterised plates with defined orientation, purity and strain. The scan travels with the plate.
GradedScannedShips with its data
Q&A
The ones we actually get.
Why not build your own reactors?
They already exist. Converting a chamber beats pouring a new one, and the operator keeps the asset.
What does the model actually do?
Corrects the recipe mid growth. Normally you set the parameters, wait days, and find out afterwards.
Where does the data advantage come from?
Every graded plate is a labelled example. No single reactor owner makes enough volume to build that corpus. A fleet does.
Why thermal before wafers?
Thermal parts tolerate defects electronics cannot. It is the grade the fleet hits today, and it funds the quality electronics need later.
Are you selling diamonds?
No. We sell watts moved and gallons treated. The stone is the means.
Bring us a number.
Watts of heat, gallons per day, or a substrate spec.
We reply with a specification sheet. Privacy.
Sources
- 1Lab grown diamond wholesale prices have fallen sharply since 2018 as CVD capacity scaled. Widely reported across the trade press; we have not verified a single index figure and do not quote one.
- 2Room temperature material properties for high quality single crystal. Standard semiconductor property tables.
- 3Boron doped diamond has the widest aqueous potential window of any common electrode, which enables direct mineralisation of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The US EPA set the first national PFAS drinking water limits in April 2024.
Image credits
- —Space station and radiators: NASA, public domain.
- —CVD growth furnace footage: © François Nguyen, CC BY 2.0.
- —Single crystal CVD diamond disc: © Schreck, Gsell, Brescia and Fischer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- —Diamond film micrograph: © Kugel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- —Aeration tank: © Vraj Acharya, WELL Labs, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- —Cleanroom wafer handling: US Department of Energy, public domain.
- —Laser optics laboratory: © Idaho National Laboratory, CC BY 2.0.