Rubicon Technology, a vertically integrated producer of sapphire substrate wafers and products for the optical, RFIC, LED, semiconductor markets, has celebrated the first anniversary of its future-generation sapphire growth plant situated in Batavia, Illinois.
Sapphire crystals manufactured from the facility spanning 135,000 sq. ft. are converted into sapphire ingots and then into large diameter sapphire wafers for producing products including automotive lighting, tablets and smart phones, netbooks, laptops, HDTVs and LED-based lighting.
Rubicon Technology produces large sapphire crystals at its Batavia facility using proprietary, tailor-made furnaces that imitate the natural organic sapphire formation process. These crystals are then processed into large diameter wafers in the company’s cutting and polishing plant located in Penang, Malaysia.
Rubicon Technology has so far delivered over 200,000 6" sapphire wafers to the RFIC and LED markets. In LED manufacturing, the transformation to large diameter wafers has been initiated at the LED production level. Various major LED chip producers have declared proposals to shift to large diameter wafers in the fiscal period 2011-2012. The cost and process benefits of large diameter sapphire wafers help the LED industry to cut down costs and prices of LED.
The President and Chief Executive Officer at Rubicon Technology, Raja Parvez stated that with the company’s proprietary crystal growth process, the Batavia facility has been constantly delivering superior-quality, high-yield sapphires and is key to the company’s dominance in offering high-yield, superior-quality, large-diameter sapphire wafers to the LED market.