Dr. Jonathan Klamkin, Ph.D., CEO & President of Aeluma (ALMU), joined Market On Close to discuss the latest for his company. The stock is up over 550% over the last year and is up 175% year-to-date.

Founded in 2019, Aeluma is a 100% Made-in-America semiconductor company. It develops and manufactures optoelectronic devices. They sell to defense & aerospace, securing contracts with NASA, the Department of Energy, and the U.S. Navy, along with consumer-focused companies.

Optoelectronics is the intersection of electricity and light; optoelectronic devices convert one to the other. These devices have uses in many modern industries, including sending data through optic fibers (telecommunication), or creating photocopies. It is a broad field with uses in many industries: LEDs are an example of optoelectronic tech.

Klamkin claims that their tech is “so cutting edge” that they decided to manufacture solely in America to protect their intellectual property. “If we’re doing the manufacturing onshore, we’re innovating more,” including in the processes, not just design.

“We don’t use traditional semiconductor materials and devices,” Klamkin adds. On its site, Aeluma states that it uses “high-performance compound semiconductor nanomaterials with scalable silicon manufacturing.” They are integrating “quantum dot laser technology” and “scaling shortwave infrared photodetector sensors.”

Let’s break down what this means.

Quantum dots are semiconductor particles (made up of specific metals) only a few nanometers in size. ScienceDirect describes them as particles with a structure that can “confine electrons in three dimensions such that discrete energy levels are obtained.”

To simplify further, it is an “artificial atom, whose properties can be controlled.” The quantum dot is technically a crystal, but the way it behaves with electrons is more similar to an atom, with its nucleus and electron shell.

Different types and sizes of quantum dots produce “diverse colors.” Because of these properties, quantum dots are extremely good at imaging. ScienceDirect says that quantum dots combined with magnetic resonance “produce exceptional images,” and are already used in fields like “biological imaging.”

Samsung, which makes “Quantum LED” products, says quantum dots produce “jaw-droppingly rich, vibrant displays.” Further, “By one estimate, Quantum Dots increase the color gamut on LCD displays by up to 50%.”

Klamkin says Aeluma’s uniqueness comes from its ability to scale these cutting-edge chips of unusual materials. “It could be used in compute for AI, and especially in the optical networking inside data centers and high-performance computers that support AI.” He says their tech reduces energy needs as well.

Shortwave infrared (SWIR) photodetector sensors specifically detect light wavelengths on the aforementioned shortwave infrared spectrum, beyond the capabilities of the human eye. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) writes that they are being “actively researched for their application in autonomous vehicles, biometric sensors, and night vision.”

Obviously, this technology could be very useful for self-driving cars, whose sensors need to be just as accurate at night or in bad weather.

Infrared tech has long been used in defense and military capacities. However, as of 2021, a paper on SWIR photodetectors by Jim Beom Kwon, Maeum Han, et al. warns that the complex semiconductors that create these sensors have “low sensitivity at room temperature” (semiconductors work better when in low temperatures). Also, unmitigated, these devices have a “detrimental effect to the human eye.”

Aeluma is hungry to broaden their appeal. Klamkin emphasizes that their tech is “eye safe” with better resolution and higher range. “These types of sensors are in high demand for industrial automation, robotics, mobile phones” and more. For example, they can be used for Face ID, or AR/VR.

Despite manufacturing in the U.S., Aeluma still has some tariff threats over raw materials, which are heavily supplied by China.

Turning to the financials, in its 3Q report in May, Aeluma showed EPS of $0.11 vs a loss of -$0.08 last year, and revenue of $1.3 million – still small, but growing significantly from $344K last year. Their uplist to the Nasdaq brought in $13.8 million gross this year. It is “on track” to meet its annual guidance of $4.4-$4.6 million in revenue for the year.

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