We are a vertically integrated, advanced materials provider specializing in
monocrystalline sapphire for applications in optical and industrial systems.
We design, assemble and maintain our own proprietary crystal growth furnaces
to grow high-purity, low-stress, ultra-low-defect-density sapphire crystals.
We apply our proprietary crystal growth technology to produce high-quality sapphire
products to meet our customers exacting specifications. Sapphire is a desirable
material for high-performance applications due to its hardness and strength,
transparency in the visible and IR spectrum, thermal conductivity, thermal shock
resistance, abrasion resistance, high melting point and chemical inertness.
As a result, it is ideally suited for extreme environments in a range of industries
where material durability is just as important as optical clarity.
Historically, we have also provided sapphire products to the LED and mobile
device markets, which are the largest markets for sapphire. However, given competitive
pressures in those markets, in September 2016 we announced our decision to limit
our focus in the near-term on the optical and industrial sapphire markets and
exit the LED market. We believe that we continue to have a reputation as one
of the highest quality sapphire producers in the market. We provide optical
and industrial sapphire products in various shapes and sizes, including round
and rectangular windows and blanks, domes, tubes and rods.
Following the decision in the fourth quarter 2016 to focus on smaller optical
and industrial sapphire markets, we determined that we had more crystal growth
and fabrication capacity in the U.S. than we needed for our current business
strategy. Consequently, we have consolidated operations into our leased spaces
in Bensenville, Illinois and Franklin Park, Illinois and vacated our owned facility
in Batavia, Illinois. In March 2017, we held an auction to sell excess equipment
from our Batavia facility. Other than crystal growth furnaces, most of the equipment
was sold. The plant itself is a special purpose facility with extensive enhancements
to power and water-cooling systems required for crystal growth production.
We are actively trying to sell or lease this property and our initial focus
is to find a buyer that is interested in both the building and its improved
infrastructure. However, to date we have been unable to find a buyer that values
such enhancements and ultimately may be unable to sell this real estate for
more than the value of a standard facility. In fact we may be required by a
buyer to pay for the removal of the enhancements. The timing on the sale or
lease of this real estate and our crystal growth furnaces is difficult to predict.
We believe the developing optical and industrial markets require large diameter
sapphire products, high quality sapphire and ultra-thin double side polished
windows and wafers which may be beyond the capability of many sapphire suppliers.
In addition, military and defense applications often require a U.S. based source
for sapphire. We believe we continue to have a reputation for producing the
highest quality optical-grade sapphire. We also have the ability to maintain
that crystal quality in very large sizes, to support a strong and developing
U.S. customer base, and to provide very high performance ultra-thin double side
polished sapphire products, which we believe positions us well in the optical,
laser, and epitaxial growth markets.
We provide optical and industrial sapphire products in various shapes and sizes,
including round and rectangular windows and blanks, domes, tubes and rods. These
optical sapphire products are qualified and used in equipment for a wide variety
of end markets and high performance applications including defense and aerospace,
specialty lighting, instrumentation, sensors and detectors, semiconductor process
equipment, electronic substrates, medical and laser applications.
We believe we offer the industry’s largest sapphire windows and highest
quality, ultra-thin, double side polished windows and substrates. Our product
lines include very thin, double-side polished windows as thin as 300 microns
for 6” optical diameter substrates, and also very large-area blanks and
polished windows. We offer round C-plane sapphire windows up to 11” in
diameter and A-plane windows up to 18” in diameter with UV grade windows
up to 13.5” in diameter. We also have produced sapphire window blanks
at 36” x 18” x 0.8” dimensions.
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