At a glance
| Booth | N0982 |
| Country | US |
| Website | www.forgenano.com |
Company profile
Forge Nano built its technology platform around the premise that atomic-level precision can strengthen critical infrastructure at scale, with performance, safety, and reliability as stated requirements for critical systems. Its Atomic Armor™ platform is enabled by patented ALDˣ architecture and is positioned as a scalable, adaptable technology spanning energy, defense, and advanced technologies. For AI hardware, Forge Nano identifies thermal instability, leakage, and interface defects as physical limits and links improved materials to higher performance per watt, more reliable high-density logic, reduced thermal degradation, lower defect rates, and longer hardware lifetimes. For semiconductors, Atomic Armor mitigates defects, reduces contamination, and enhances interface quality, addressing factors that limit transistor scaling and next-generation architectures. Atomic Armor-powered lithium-ion cells are described as delivering higher energy density, superior safety, and longer cycle life, with production in the U.S. and a U.S.-dominant supply chain. In defense and aerospace, Forge Nano links Atomic Armor innovations with lighter, more powerful aircraft, drones, spacecraft, and directed-energy systems. For quantum devices, Atomic Armor™ addresses surface and interface instabilities that constrain coherence time, fidelity, and yield, with stated benefits including more powerful qubits, more qubits per chip, longer coherence, lower error rates, and scalable manufacturing. Forge Nano is developing an 18650 lithium-ion battery cell for U.S. Department of Defense testing using battery materials solely sourced from the United States, with high capacity and energy density and requirements covering cycle life and operating temperatures. Its North Carolina gigafactory is designed for 100% domestic lithium-ion cell manufacturing at scale for defense, aerospace, grid storage, and advanced mobility markets; it is backed by a $100M U.S. Department of Energy grant and uses proprietary Atomic Armor™ technology. Forge Nano also develops semiconductor wafer-fabrication equipment for ultra-thin, atomically precise coatings and powder ALD equipment for precise, uniform coating of powders and granular materials used in batteries, catalysts, pharmaceuticals, and advanced composites.
Exhibits
Forge Nano presents Atomic Armor™ as an industrial-scale atomic-level materials platform enabled by patented ALDˣ architecture that addresses thermal instability and surface degradation and delivers faster-charging batteries, flawless semiconductor yields, and high-strength structural components. For AI accelerators, the platform targets thermal instability, leakage, and interface defects that can cap hardware performance. In semiconductor applications, Atomic Armor™ provides nano-scale coatings with cleaner interfaces, tighter tolerances, and greater durability for devices used in AI, defense, and next-generation systems. The semiconductor offering addresses defects, contamination, unstable interfaces, thermal instability, and the tighter process-control demands of complex device architectures. Its stated application outcomes include cleaner interfaces, fewer defects, thermal stability, higher reliability, tighter tolerances, and better yields, with Atomic Armor™ reinforcing core material layers and stabilizing advanced architectures. For back-of-the-line processing in radio-frequency and power devices, ALD is used for encapsulation layers; compared with traditional PECVD, the process is described as depositing a dense, pinhole-free film with barrier properties and without surface-damage risk. TEPHRA is designed for specialty semiconductor applications on 200mm wafers and below, with 100x efficient chemical use, rapid cycle times, increased yield, and commercial-throughput single-wafer cluster operation. Forge Nano's semiconductor ALD systems use patented ALDˣ architecture to deliver ultra-uniform, conformal Atomic Armor™ coatings that stabilize interfaces across complex wafer geometries, with support from R&D through production for dielectric, passivation, barrier-seed, and next-generation device layers. The wafer systems are designed around challenges including uneven film thickness, interface degradation under thermal and electrical stress, conformity in high-aspect-ratio features, and recipe scale-up that requires precise, repeatable cycle-to-cycle control. ALDˣ combines high-speed delivery with atomic-layer precision to stabilize interfaces and reduce variability, providing high uniformity, conformity, stable interfaces, repeatable cycles, tighter tolerances, and scalable throughput. TEPHRA™ is the high-volume manufacturing cluster, specified at 10x throughput relative to traditional ALD systems, 100x efficiency in precursor chemical utilization, and modular 4/6/8-sided cluster configurations. TEPHRAOne™ is a fully automated 200mm single-module platform for process qualification, with single-wafer automation up to 200mm, 100% recipe transfer to full cluster tools, and SMFD-ALD for dynamic coordinated high-speed control. THEIA™ is a field-upgradeable R&D-to-production platform for material discovery and pilot validation, handling 75mm to 200mm substrates at deposition rates up to 100 Å/minute and using proprietary fast pneumatic valves rated for 100 million. For advanced packaging, thermal ALD seed and barrier layers support high-aspect-ratio Cu fill, 2.5D/3D integration, and improved interconnect performance. For photonics, conformal passivation and gap-fill films are applied to optical interfaces, device lifetime, and material consistency across PICs, microLEDs, and high-precision photonics platforms. For RF devices, dielectric and passivation layers are engineered for GaAs, GaN, and other wide-bandgap devices to improve breakdown strength, thermal reliability, and long-term durability. For power devices and advanced logic or memory, the portfolio includes ALD dielectrics, interface layers, high-k films, and passivation films aimed at breakdown strength, thermal stability, lifetime, uniform coverage, low defect density, and stable interfaces. Forge Nano's Powder ALD platforms apply atomic-level precision at industrial scale to powders and granular materials, addressing oxidation, moisture and chemical attack, incomplete shielding, poor fine-powder flowability, and the need for repeatable high-volume performance. Atomic Armor™ powder treatment provides hermetic encapsulation, interface stabilization, rheological optimization, maximized active sites, nano-precision shells, and defect passivation for reactive bulk materials. LITHOS™ uses a rotary batch architecture capable of processing 1,000+ kg per batch and scaling to 10,000 kg/day, with 99% precursor utilization and fully integrated inert loading and unloading for 24/7 production. PROMETHEUS™ bridges laboratory discovery and industrial pilot production, supporting single-gram to 20kg batches, proprietary Jet Assist Technology for cohesive and sensitive nano-powders, and manifold and reactor heating up to 350°C. PANDORA™ is a 100ml rotary reactor for milligram-to-gram research with continuous 360° particle exposure, up to 8 independent precursor inlets, and compatibility with gas, liquid, and solid precursor chemistries. For battery materials, the powder coatings target surface instabilities associated with capacity fade and thermal runaway, extending cycle life and enabling ultra-fast charging for next-generation anodes and cathodes. For advanced catalysis, atomic-layer control over active sites is used to maximize selectivity, limit catalyst poisoning, and reduce the need for expensive precious-metal loading without sacrificing reactivity. For specialized metallurgy, hermetic shielding protects metal powders used in additive manufacturing and defense against oxidation and moisture uptake. For defense and propulsion, engineered barriers for reactive powders and energetics are used to improve shelf-life stability and tune burn rates for safer and more predictable field performance. For polymers and pigments, functional shells are used for UV stability, dispersion, durability, and rheology improvements at the molecular level.
Capabilities and products
- production ALD cluster systems for semiconductor wafers
- single-wafer ALD systems for R&D and pilot production
- thermal ALD seed and barrier layer deposition for advanced packaging
- ALD passivation and gap-fill films for photonic devices
- dielectric and passivation layer deposition for GaAs and GaN RF devices
- ALD dielectric and interface layer deposition for wide-bandgap power devices
- high-k and passivation film deposition
- industrial-scale powder ALD coating systems
- powder ALD coating systems for R&D
- ALD coating of battery anode and cathode materials
- atomic-layer control of catalyst active sites
- hermetic protective coating of metal powders for additive manufacturing
- functional coating of polymer and pigment powders
- lithium-ion cell manufacturing