Lockheed buys Nantero's government unit

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Lockheed Martin Corp. has acquired the government business unit of Nantero Inc., a developer of carbon nanotubes for next-generation electronic devices.

As part of the deal, Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md.) has entered into an exclusive license arrangement with Nantero for government applications of Nantero's intellectual property portfolio. Approximately 30 employees will join Lockheed Martin as part of the purchase of Nantero's government business unit.

Nantero's government business unit is developing nanotechnology-enabled devices for use in a variety of military and intelligence applications. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center, a unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., will manage the Nantero unit.

''This transaction provides Nantero with increased resources and strategic focus to achieve our goals in the commercial memory space," said Greg Schmergel, Nantero's co-founder and CEO, in a statement.

Carbon nanotube chips appear ready for commercialization, claims the first foundry offering carbon nanotube thin films to fabless chip makers.

Nantero Inc. (Woburn, Mass.) partnered with SVTC Technologies (Austin, Texas) to offer the first eight-inch nanotube thin-film development foundry. SVTC uses Nantero's process to prototype commercial CMOS carbon nanotube designs for fabless chip houses.