X-Celeprint commences business operations

CORK, IRELAND: X-Celeprint Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of holding company XTRION N.V., and the developer and sole licensor of patented Micro-Transfer-Printing (μTP) technology, has publicly announced commencement of its business operations and named Kyle Benkendorfer chief executive officer.

X-Celeprint believes its massively parallel approach for assembling microscale semiconductor devices onto non-native substrates is the industry's lowest-cost and most scalable method for assembly of heterogeneously integrated devices; it opens new opportunities for high-volume, high-performance applications such as optoelectronics and next-generation data storage.

X-Celeprint also was named an industry partner today at the official opening of the Tyndall National Institute's new Irish Photonics Integration Centre (IPIC), joining a network of 18 industry partners in the Centre. In total, Tyndall National Institute has more than 200 industry partners that deliver economic growth to Ireland with their leading-edge technologies.

Kyle Benkendorfer, CEO, educated at the London Business School, Texas A&M University and Reed College, brings more than 30 years of experience to his new role at X-Celeprint. He previously served for five years as senior director of Business Development at Semprius Inc., and was director at X-Celeprint since its inception last year.

Benkendorfer said: "We are headquartered in Ireland because of Tyndall's synergistic work environment, and the unique research and commercialization opportunities it offers through its relationships with renowned international technology companies.

"We anticipate X-Celeprint will generate from 10 to 20 technical and licensing jobs in Ireland during the next two to three years. The combination of our technology and the application development capabilities at Tyndall could entice other companies around the world to bring additional resources into the Cork area."

Rudi De Winter, MD of XTRION that has holdings in multi-national semiconductor and MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) companies in Europe, Asia and North America, said: "We are excited about our investment in X-Celeprint because we believe it can have far-reaching impact on the assembly and manufacturing of electronics and photonics devices. We are also very positive about establishing the company in Ireland as we greatly appreciate Tyndall's technical capabilities and the very business-friendly environment here."

Tyndall CEO, Dr. Kieran Drain, added: "We are very pleased to have X-Celeprint become an industry partner of Tyndall today. The company has tremendous synergy with many of our research programs, and brings a very creative and disruptive approach to solving some of the major issues in the semiconductor, flexible electronics, LED, and display industries. We are confident that our partnership with X-Celeprint will have a significant impact in driving commercialisation of silicon photonics. It is an exciting development to be bringing such core expertise in silicon photonics to Ireland."

Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said: "X-Celeprint is the recognised leader in micro-transfer printing technology. The company's decision to establish their HQ in Cork's Tyndall Institute highlights Ireland's reputation as the leading location from which to develop products as well as expand business. I would like to offer X-Celeprint the continued support of IDA Ireland."

How μTP technology works

X-Celeprint's patented μTP technology that integrates microscale semiconductor devices such as lasers, light-emitting devices (LEDs) or integrated circuits (ICs) onto non-native substrates originally was invented by Professor John Rogers and co-workers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The X-Celeprint process uses an engineered elastomer print-head coupled to an automated printer to pick up and transfer arrays of very small and thin semiconductor-based devices. The μTP technology is ideal for heterogeneous integration of non-silicon devices and silicon integrated circuits in More-than-Moore applications, and for printing high-performance microscale device arrays onto plastic substrates in printed and flexible electronics applications.

Dr. Rogers commented: "Micro-transfer printing is uniquely suited for a wide variety of applications in the field of electronics. I look forward to observing X-Celeprint's commercial progress because I believe they are commencing operations at the perfect point in time to take advantage of the convergence of market needs in the electronics and photonics fields and micro-transfer printing technology capabilities."

In addition to the technology itself, X-Celeprint offers application-specific technology development, technology transfer and the hardware such as printers and printheads required to practice μTP.