For decades, silicon has been the non-negotiable backbone of every device in our pockets and on our desks. It’s abundant, affordable, and incredibly good at its job. But the job is changing. The relentless march toward more powerful artificial intelligence, more efficient energy grids, and more precise quantum machines is pushing silicon to its breaking point. The problem isn’t processing power; it’s heat. Silicon, for all its virtues, is a poor conductor of thermal energy. As our systems demand more speed in smaller packages, this heat becomes a critical bottleneck, threatening reliability and performance.
This challenge is where a new material is stepping into the spotlight, one with a centuries-old allure but a very modern application: diamond. Not the gem in a ring, but an engineered, semiconductor-grade crystal. At the forefront of this shift is Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT), a startup born from decades of research at Michigan State University. They’re not just making a better heat sink; they’re building a new platform for the future of electronics.
“The limits we’re hitting in electronics are not just about software or computing power anymore – they’re about materials,” explains Jonathan Charak, CEO of GLCT. “Diamond offers a path forward because it manages heat better and performs where traditional materials start to break down.”
The promise of diamond is compelling. It can dissipate heat over five times more effectively than silicon. It can withstand extreme temperatures, intense radiation, and harsh electrical environments where silicon or even silicon carbide would fail. This unique combination makes it a candidate for everything from keeping next-generation AI chips cool to enabling sensors in the depths of space or inside nuclear reactors.
The reason this revolution hasn’t already happened is one of practical engineering. Growing diamond with the precise purity, crystal structure, and size needed for electronics has been prohibitively difficult and expensive. “The challenge has never been whether diamond has the right properties,” Charak notes. “The challenge is producing it in the right form, at the right quality, and in a way that fits real applications.”
GLCT’s answer lies in specialized chemical vapor deposition reactors, technology refined over years in the lab of Dr. Timothy Grotjohn at MSU. This wasn’t an overnight discovery. It was a long-term research program in materials science that eventually yielded a process to grow single-crystal diamond substrates with the consistency and scalability the industry requires.
The journey from academic breakthrough to commercial venture is often where promising tech stumbles. In this case, Michigan State’s innovation ecosystem provided the crucial bridge. The university’s Innovation Center helped secure the intellectual property and identify commercialization pathways, while the MSU Research Foundation provided early-stage support, from seed funding and incubator lab space to entrepreneurial mentorship.
“Great Lakes Crystal is a strong example of what can happen when university research is paired with the right startup support,” said David Washburn, CEO of the MSU Research Foundation. This supportive pipeline allowed GLCT, founded in 2019, to transition from a lab concept to a company now securing significant government contracts.
The immediate applications are in high-stakes fields. Diamond substrates from GLCT can manage heat in advanced microchip packaging, potentially allowing for denser, more powerful processors. They can serve as robust windows for sensors in aerospace or as components in high-voltage power electronics. But the most futuristic application might be in the subtle realm of quantum sensing.
- Advanced microchip packaging
- Robust windows for sensors
- High-voltage power electronics
- Quantum sensing
- Biomedical scanners
- Navigation systems
Here, diamond’s role shifts from passive heat manager to active sensor. Scientists can engineer tiny, atomic-scale defects called nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers into the crystal lattice. These defects are exquisitely sensitive to minute changes in magnetic fields, temperature, and strain. “The diamond itself becomes the sensor,” Charak explains. This could lead to biomedical scanners that detect the faint magnetic signals of brain activity with unprecedented clarity, or navigation systems that function where GPS signals cannot reach.
GLCT’s manufacturing focus on high-purity, precisely controlled diamond directly feeds this emerging quantum future. It positions the company not just as a supplier for today’s thermal problems, but as an enabler for tomorrow’s sensing revolution.
The momentum is tangible. In early 2025, GLCT received a $2.7 million award from National Security Innovation Capital to advance the production of large-area diamond substrates for quantum and thermal management applications. This kind of investment signals a shift in perception – diamond is being seen less as a lab curiosity and more as a strategic, enabling material.
What makes this story resonate is its tangible path from idea to impact. It began with persistent curiosity in a university lab, was shepherded through the complex process of technology transfer, and is now maturing into a company addressing national security and technological advancement needs. The diamond that GLCT grows may soon be at the heart of devices that make medical diagnostics less invasive, energy systems more robust, and computing power more sustainable. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the next great leap forward isn’t just about writing better code, but about forging a better crystal.
| Application | Description |
|---|---|
| AI Chips | Keeping next-generation AI chips cool |
| Aerospace Sensors | Robust windows for sensors in aerospace |
| High-Voltage Electronics | Components in high-voltage power electronics |
| Quantum Sensing | Sensitive to changes in magnetic fields |
| Biomedical | Scanners detecting brain activity |
| Navigation | Systems functioning without GPS |
