Rocket One Funds VCU Research on Skyrmion-Based SKYMRAM Memory

A one-year program aimed at a proof of concept

According to Rocket One, the agreement with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) sets up a one-year research program focused on nanoscale fabrication, materials optimization and device-level testing. The target is a proof-of-concept milestone: demonstrating switching of SKYMRAM's soft magnetic layer.

SKYMRAM uses skyrmions, which are nanoscale magnetic structures, as the basis for a proposed magnetic memory architecture. The program will study the material structures and switching behavior needed to move this approach toward future semiconductor applications.

Robb Knie, Chief Executive Officer of Rocket One, said in the announcement: "Building the next generation of AI computing requires advances in the underlying hardware, including how information is stored and switched." He added that the agreement "establishes a concrete development path for SKYMRAM."

What the research will cover

The company lists four areas of planned work:

• Nanoscale device fabrication: patterning, etching and characterizing magnetic material stacks designed to host skyrmions.
• Materials engineering: developing and refining thin-film structures to support device testing.
• Switching studies: investigating control of the soft magnetic layer, described as a central proof-of-concept objective.
• Device optimization: refining structures to host skyrmions approximately 100 nanometers in size and pursuing reliable switching within the planned experimental framework.

VCU will lead the project under Principal Investigator Jayasimha Atulasimha. The agreement also includes a Northwestern University subaward supporting thin-film growth, materials characterization and optimization, with feedback between materials development and device measurements.

The program sets quarterly objectives, moving from initial material-stack fabrication and characterization to switching studies and optimized nanoscale structures. According to the company, the experiments are meant to generate the evidence needed to assess SKYMRAM's technical feasibility and guide later development.

Limits and licensing terms

Rocket One is careful to frame the work as early-stage. The company states that the program is foundational memory-device research supporting potential future AI chip architectures, and that it "does not establish completed AI processors or validated system-level performance." Uses in AI infrastructure, space and defense would require further development and application-specific validation, including any testing needed to establish radiation tolerance.

The agreement also gives Rocket One an option to negotiate licenses to intellectual property arising from the project, subject to its terms.

In its forward-looking statements, the company notes that the licensed technologies have not been fabricated as integrated devices, validated in space environments or qualified for any commercial or government program, and that there is no commercial product. It also says it will need substantial additional capital to fabricate, test and qualify them, and that failing to meet diligence milestones under its VCU license agreements could cost it license rights.

What it means for Rocket One

Rocket One describes itself as a publicly traded company building a portfolio across AI infrastructure, advanced semiconductor technologies, space and defense systems, and autonomous platforms. It says it is advancing licensed spintronic and nanomagnetic computing technologies for AI acceleration and radiation-tolerant computing.

For the company, the VCU agreement gives that strategy a defined experimental track with quarterly milestones. Whether SKYMRAM switching can be demonstrated at the device level is the question the one-year program is designed to answer, and the results will determine how far the technology can move toward the chip applications the company has in mind.