Funding round completed
Durham Scientific Crystals Ltd, a Durham University spin-out, has raised £3.5 million for the further development of its semiconducting materials for use in X-ray imaging detectors. Following this round the company is valued at £22.16 million.
The money will be spent on product development, recruitment, and capital expenditure for production and product development areas.
Durham’s semiconductor materials are designed for use in detectors for medical, security, and defence digital X-ray imaging. The materials, based on cadmium telluride, are highly sensitive to X-rays and gamma rays, allowing for improved imaging in applications such as airport security and medical diagnostics.
Cadmium telluride materials are currently too expensive and difficult to produce to be used in large-scale commercial applications. Durham has developed a low-cost and scalable method of producing these crystals from a vapour phase, rather than the conventional liquid based techniques. It is currently using this material to develop detectors and an imaging system platform technology.
Durham Scientific Crystals was spun out from the physics department of the university in April 2003.
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