Our Team
Our team is composed of experts in nanotechnology, advanced material synthesis, and nanoscale mass production. Coupled with all-star industry advisors deeply versed in semiconductor needs, Aligned Carbon has the team to help enable the upcoming wave of semiconductor evolution.
LinkedinJohn (J) Provine, PhD, is the co-founder and CEO at Aligned Carbon. Dr. Provine has over 20 years of experience in nanofabrication, beginning with his PhD studies at Cornell University. Continuing through the decade-plus time he spent as a senior research scientist at Stanford University, Dr. Provine consulted widely with established companies (Veeco, Bosch) and early-stage start-ups (Quantumscape, Spark Thermionics). He continues to be deeply involved in activities with the NSF and mentors other startup founders.
Yonas Yemane, PhD, is the Chief Scientific Officer at Aligned Carbon. Dr. Yemane has expertise in nanofabrication and thin film deposition techniques, particularly in atomic layer deposition (ALD). His graduate research focused on the development and use of the world’s first combined in situ scanning probe microscopy and ALD tool. Dr. Yemane received his PhD in Applied Physics and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and his BA from Harvard University.
Matti Thurston is the Director of Product & Operations at Aligned Carbon. Mr. Thurston has expertise in translating materials level innovations into manufacturing scale products. Mr. Thurston has prior experience as an Engineering Program Manager in Apple’s Hardware Technology division as well as research experience in next-generation photonics, superconductors, and magnetic sensors. He received his MS in Materials Science from Stanford University and his BS from Cornell University.
Professor Roger Howe of Stanford University is a member of Aligned Carbon’s technical advisory board and is a long-time mentor and collaborator with Dr. Provine. Daniel Armbrust has served as a strategic advisor to Aligned Carbon since early 2020, and as an independent member of Aligned Carbon’s Board of Directors since mid-2021. Mr. Armbrust is the former CEO of SEMATECH, the co-founder of Silicon Catalyst, and an advisor on the implementation and execution of the CHIPS Act.
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Our Story
We set out from day one with a clear goal: Unlock the power of carbon nanotubes for the semiconductor industry by solving their biggest translation issue. Namely, after founding Aligned Carbon, our team began developing a new approach to carbon nanotube (CNT) production, using a scalable manufacturing process that could produce high-quality CNTs with consistent performance characteristics. We recognized the potential of CNTs to revolutionize many industries, but we also knew that existing CNT production methods were not efficient enough to make this a reality.
Aligned Carbon aims to be the leading supplier of aligned, semiconducting-pure CNTs for wafer-scale manufacturing. Our technology uniquely enables aligned growth of CNTs compatible with any wafer size, purification of as-grown material to remove all metallics, and transfer of the resultant CNTs to any new substrate. This makes our material foundry-ready for processing into next-generation devices in logic, RF wireless, sensing, and rad-hard microelectronics, among many other yet to be tapped markets.
Our innovation is in the aligned purification of carbon nanotubes via our proprietary hybrid processing methodology. Aligned Carbon has been awarded two US patents on its purification process and has filed patent applications for worldwide protection. Furthermore, our experience has led to a body of trade secrets that make us global experts in CNT processing.
Aligned Carbon was founded in April 2018. The company has been generously supported by NSF SBIR grants, Activate Fellowships, and Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office awards. Aligned Carbon has received equity investments from leading early venture capital firms such as Sand Hill Angels, Prefix Capital, and Hemisphere Ventures, as well as prestigious family offices focused on semiconductor innovation.