Advanced Materials & Manufacturing

UNLOCKING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF 3000° CERAMICS

For Defense, Space, and Energy — a next-generation advanced materials and manufacturing platform. Backed by $4 MM in non-dilutive funding from ARPA-E and DARPA.

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The Challenge

The Hard Ceiling for Defense, Space & Energy

Next-generation hardware requires >2,000°C survival. Current materials (metals, metal oxides) cannot survive, and the materials (carbides, nitrides) that can survive are difficult to manufacture.

Hypersonics & Space

Leading edges and ramjets face oxidative and thermal shock that destroys metals and oxide ceramics

Nuclear Fusion

Heat exchangers demand corrosion and radiation resistance at extreme temperatures for decades.

Power Electronics

As power density rises, 2D ceramic substrates hit a thermal ceiling, constraining performance and size reduction.

Hypersonics & Space

Leading edges and ramjets face oxidative and thermal shock that destroys metals and oxide ceramics

Nuclear Fusion

Heat exchangers demand corrosion and radiation resistance at extreme temperatures for decades.

Power Electronics

As power density rises, 2D ceramic substrates hit a thermal ceiling, constraining performance and size reduction.

THE BOTTLENECK

Carbides & nitrides are the only materials that survive these conditions. But traditional manufacturing (sintering) has severe limitations: simple geometries only, multi-month lead times, and less than 50% yields for complex parts.

WHAT GOES IN

Metal/Oxide Powder Bed

Commodity precursor powders (Hf, Zr, Ti, Si, V, etc.) spread in a standard LPBF powder bed — no binders, no slurries.

Laser + Reactive CH₄/NH₃ Gas

Laser heats powder to reaction temperature in the presence of flowing methane (for carbides) or ammonia (for nitrides).

Single Step - No Furnace

Ceramic forms in microseconds (10⁷°C/sec). Reaction-bonding simultaneously sinters the layer. Synthesis is the printing step.

INCUMBENT PROCESS

Mixed materials → molding → sintering (>1000°C) → machining. High shrinkage, <50% yields, simple geometries only.

the platform’s unique features

Net-Shape Precision

Eliminates post-print machining, enabling 100 µm internal cooling features.

Material Agnostic

One process switches between 21+ carbides and nitrides by simply changing the powder and gas.

Hardware Agnostic

Integrates into existing commercial L-PBF systems (Velo3D, Renishaw AM400) as a simple feature upgrade.

Silicon Carbide printed using SLRS

EXAMPLE APPLICATION

Breaking the “Thermal Wall” in Power Electronics

Monolithic ceramic cooling enables a 60% volume reduction by serving as both the electrical insulator and the heat sink — one demonstration of what SLRS makes possible.