New Industry Products

Ultrathin, Conformable Supercapacitors from PBC Tech and KLA Tencor

January 09, 2018 by Paul Shepard

PBC Tech today announced a manufacturing partnership agreement with KLA-Tencor in preparation for the commercial launch of its PowerWRAPPER ultrathin supercapacitor later in 2018.  Also, PBC Tech announced it received a U.S. Patent (No.: 9,831,533) relating to the architecture of the PowerWRAPPER product line.

PowerWRAPPER is an ultrathin supercapacitor with a revolutionary design that enables the 5V product line to fit into spaces where other energy sources cannot and deliver peak power and new functionality not possible in today’s wireless devices with small, aging batteries.

The new patent, valid through 2037, adds to a growing patent portfolio that covers proprietary electrode materials, specific applications for use of an ultrathin supercapacitor and architecture and design for the PowerWRAPPER technology, providing comprehensive protection for commercial applications of this product. Ten other patent applications are pending.

With deep engineering expertise in building high-precision, production-scale equipment, KLA-Tencor Corporation has signed on as PBC Tech’s manufacturing partner for PowerWRAPPER.  The first scalable production equipment built by KLA-Tencor as part of this agreement is currently under validation testing. Separately, KLA-Tencor’s corporate venture group has made a strategic capital investment in PBC Tech.

“Our partnership with KLA-Tencor is a major milestone for PBC Tech and its customers,” said Shreefal Mehta, Chief Executive Officer of PBC Tech. “The equipment KLA-Tencor is building will demonstrate the readiness of PowerWRAPPER to be scaled and manufactured at production levels in the millions of units/day as required by the leading electronics companies that have shown interest in PowerWRAPPER.

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“KLA-Tencor’s strategic investment will enable us to grow our existing customer base and prepare for higher volume sales of our PowerRESPONDER, a UL-certified, hybrid-supercapacitor product line. With KLA-Tencor, we are now ready to scale up, deliver and disrupt the battery power management world in mobile electronics,” Mehta concluded.