Materials research company
Materials engineered for systems that run hot and cannot fail.
Colour is an early-stage materials research company. We design, make and independently verify engineered materials, starting with copper-diamond thermal composites for power electronics and high-temperature magnets that use less heavy rare earth.
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Mission
Shorten the distance between a specification and a verified material, and publish what we learn.
Advanced hardware is limited by materials that are hard to specify, slow to develop and difficult to compare. Colour exists to make that path shorter and its evidence easier to trust.
01 · The challenge
Three problems under modern hardware.
01
Heat sets the limit
Thermal materials maker Element Six states that over half of electronic device failures are linked to heat. In power modules, a copper baseplate expands more than three times as much as the aluminium nitride substrate soldered to it (handbook values of about 16.5 and 4.5 ppm/K), which strains joints through every thermal cycle.
02
Supply is concentrated
The International Energy Agency reports that demand for magnet rare earths has doubled since 2015, and that China placed export controls on seven heavy rare earths in April 2025.
03
Evidence is hard to compare
Reported copper-diamond conductivities range from about 550 to 690 W/mK across studies that differ in diamond size, interface layer and method, and conductivity often trades against strength.
02 · Programmes
Two programmes. One standard of evidence.
| Programme | The problem | Hypothesis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal composites | Heat spreading and thermal-expansion mismatch in power electronics | Control the copper-diamond interface and tune the diamond fraction to balance conductivity and expansion | Research planning. Literature and primers published. No samples. |
| High-temperature magnets | Magnets weaken in hot motors and depend on scarce heavy rare earths | Combine grain boundary diffusion with hydrogen processing of scrap, subject to patent review | Literature stage. Review and white paper published. No samples. |
03 · How we work
One loop from specification to verified sample.
01
Specify
Customer needs become measurable fields (temperature, conductivity, expansion, size, tolerance), agreed in writing.
02
Design
Literature, simulation and recorded runs narrow the experiments worth running.
03
Make and measure
Samples are produced and tested with the same methods every time, each run recorded and traceable.
04
Verify
Independent third-party testing, then a datasheet and batch record. Any figure we have not measured is labelled a target.
04 · Research integrity
Every claim carries a label.
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Established | Standard textbook science or widely replicated results |
| Reported | A named source's result that we have not reproduced |
| Hypothesis | A reasoned proposal we intend to test |
| Unknown | No evidence found either way |
05 · Updates
What we have published.
| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| 7 Nov 2026 | Research repository v0.2.0: primers, governance, research integrity policy and methodology published. |
| 1 Nov 2026 | Literature review and white paper on high-temperature magnets published. |
| 1 Nov 2026 | Colour website launched. |
06 · Engage
Work with us, challenge us, or build with us.
Engineering teams
Send a specification and we will scope a study or sample evaluation, with a written quote before any work.
Researchers and reviewers
Challenge our claims. Corrections are credited, including those that go against us.