The California Institute of Technology and French research lab CEA-Leti have announced the first start-up to emerge from their Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI.
Paris-based Apix will design, manufacture, and bring to market analysis systems based miniaturised chromatography.
"By applying microelectronic technologies developed at CEA-Leti and Caltech, the founders of APIX created a new way to implement gas chromatography. It is based on nano-electromechanical systems sensors," said CEA. "Building on this, Leti and Caltech added significant new techniques in the field of components, electronics, and algorithms that led to the development of prototypes that are small, accurate, and fast."
Foreseen applications include gas analysis for industrial processing in the petrochemical and natural gas distribution industries and analysis of ambient air quality.
And in future, medical applications such as health screening through the analysis of biomarkers in a patient’s breath.
Caltech’s Kavli Nanoscience Institute in Pasadena, and CEA-Leti formed the Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI in 2007.
“This first industrial initiative from the alliance is proof that the transatlantic cooperation, built on the partners’ unity, has been essential in accelerating the maturation of scientific concepts initially elaborated in Caltech laboratories and adapted by Leti to meet large-scale, low-cost manufacturing requirements,” said Dr Jean-Lou Chameau, president of the California Institute of Technology.