News: Suppliers
14 September 2026
UK’s Battalion and Penn State launch research collaboration focused on national security
The USA’s Penn State University and UK-based Battalion Advanced Technology Ltd have entered into two research agreements worth up to $6m to develop advanced semiconductor platforms and high-temperature materials that aim to enable next-generation energy, transportation, aerospace and industrial systems while also providing critical capabilities for national security.
Led by researchers at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute (MRI), the projects bring together researchers from across the university to address two major materials challenges in technologies that operate under extreme conditions: integrating advanced semiconductors with high-performance substrates that can withstand the conditions and dissipate heat, as well as developing durable, oxidation-resistant alloys that can withstand extreme-temperature environments including hypersonic flight.
London-based Battalion Advanced Technology, which is focused on advancing next-generation materials for dual-use applications, will provide up to $1m per year for each project. The agreements went into effect on 16 July and will run for three years.
“Penn State Materials brings together expertise in semiconductor science, computation, manufacturing and characterization,” says the MRI’s director Joshua A. Robinson, professor of materials science and engineering. “This collaboration allows us to apply that breadth to two complex materials challenges with direct implications for US technological leadership and national security,” he adds.
“Pennsylvania has the talent, research institutions, and innovative spirit to help America lead in the technologies that will define our economic and national security,” comments US Senator Dave McCormick. “This research collaboration, backed by up to $6m from Battalion Advanced Technology, will help Penn State advance critical work in semiconductors, aerospace, defense, and other strategic industries while strengthening Pennsylvania’s role as a hub for American innovation.”
The semiconductor project is led by Joan Redwing, distinguished professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering. Her team will explore new ways to integrate gallium nitride and related wide-bandgap and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors with substrates that offer improved thermal and electrical performance.
The researchers will investigate whether atomically thin interlayers — materials designed to improve how different materials connect and perform together — can help gallium nitride semiconductors integrate more effectively with materials such as diamond and aluminium nitride, relieve stress where the materials meet and reduce defects during semiconductor growth.
The work will combine materials synthesis and characterization, with the goal of moving beyond conventional approaches for growing crystalline layers. The collaboration draws on the university’s interdisciplinary materials research community, as well as specialized facilities and technical capabilities available through the MRI and other university research units.
“By using atomically thin two-dimensional materials as interlayers, we aim to minimize crystalline defects and interfacial thermal resistance while enabling wide-bandgap semiconductor growth on high thermal conductivity substrates that have traditionally been incompatible with direct deposition,” Redwing says.
The co-principal investigators on the semiconductor project include Robinson; Adrianus van Duin, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering; and Chen Chen, assistant research professor in MRI.
