Houston, Texas - November 12, 2026 - DexMat, a Houston-based advanced carbon material company, announced today that it has been selected by AFWERX, a component of the Technology Transition Office within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), for a Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract (FA2394-26-C-B006), awarded through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), to advance Galvorn® production for cathodes that will go into high-power microwave systems.
Field emission cathodes are a foundational component in high-power microwave systems, and cathode material performance sets a hard limit on how much power those systems can generate and how reliably they can be built at the scale defense programs require. That material gap is why AFRL has funded Galvorn cathode development for years, and why this contract matters beyond a single program.
The two-year contract, which began this August, requires DexMat to produce more than 1 kg of qualified Galvorn fiber for cathode development, building on a body of work AFRL has funded since Galvorn was still a research project at Rice University. The relationship includes multiple prior SBIR awards, and both sides have said the goal is moving Galvorn cathodes toward a formal program of record.
A 2023 study published in the Journal of Applied Physics, co-authored by DexMat's Dmitri Tsentalovich and Dr. Steven Fairchild of AFRL, found that knitted Galvorn fiber cathodes outperformed standard carbon-fiber cathodes in both continuous and pulsed field emission testing. High-power microwave (HPM) testing demonstrated that Galvorn-based cathodes could emit more than 20 times the current density of the incumbent cathode material used in high-power microwave systems today, in a form factor that is faster and less costly to manufacture at scale.
"We've been working toward this since Galvorn was still a research project at Rice," said Dmitri Tsentalovich, Ph.D., Director of Product Innovation at DexMat. "AFRL has followed this cathode data for years. This contract is a bet on where that data goes next."
DexMat is in commercial production of Galvorn today, shipping fiber, yarn, fabric, and film to customers across aerospace, defense, and energy. In DexMat's own testing, Galvorn measures 97% as conductive as copper on a per-mass basis, and is one-fifth of the density of copper.
About DexMat
DexMat is a U.S.-based company pioneering Galvorn®, a lightweight, flexible, and high-performance conductive material. Invented at Rice University by Nobel Prize–winning scientists, Galvorn offers a unique combination of properties that enables new designs and mitigates system-level tradeoffs across demanding applications. Customers in aerospace, space, defense, automotive, energy, and consumer technology are using Galvorn to develop lighter systems, improve durability, and enable applications not possible with traditional materials. Proudly made in America and shipped globally, Galvorn helps industries do more with less. For more information, visit dexmat.com.
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at four hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: afwerx.com.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the Department of the Air Force’s primary scientific research and development center and one of six centers within Air Force Materiel Command. AFRL leads the discovery, development and delivery of technologies for air, space and multidomain. With a workforce spanning seven mission areas at more than 40 locations worldwide, AFRL conducts research ranging from basic science to advanced technology development. For more information, visit afresearchlab.com.
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Cleared for public release. AFRL-2026-4511