3 May 2011

GT to supply sapphire cores to Taiwanese LED wafer maker Tera Xtal

GT Solar International Inc of Merrimack, NH, USA (a provider of polysilicon production technology as well as sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets) has signed an agreement to supply sapphire cores to Taiwanese LED wafer maker Tera Xtal Technology Corp (TXT).

Tera Xtal is dedicated to manufacturing 2–6 inch single-crystal sapphire wafers for the LED industry. “We are increasing our volume of epi-ready wafers to meet rising customer demand,” says Tera Xtal’s president Steven Liu. “We have had a successful, long-standing relationship with Crystal Systems, now GT Solar [since the acquisition last July], and have come to rely on their ability to provide us with LED sapphire material that meets our high standards for quality,” he adds.

“Our ability to supply sapphire cores to a leading LED industry player such as Tera Xtal not only demonstrates the quality of the sapphire produced by GT’s proprietary Advanced Sapphire Furnaces but also provides support to our expanding universe of equipment customers as they ramp into production over the coming year,” comments GT Solar’s president & CEO Tom Gutierrez.

GT says that its new sapphire production facility increases the availability of sapphire material for its LED and specialty market sapphire customers. Initially, material allocation will satisfy both LED and specialty market customers, but long term, as its equipment customers ramp into high-volume production, GT expects that most of its sapphire production to be allocated to meet new specialty market growth in areas such as high-energy lasers, medical devices, and applications requiring large-area substrates for the aerospace and defense industries.

Tags: GT Solar LEDs

Visit: www.teraxtal.com

Visit: www.gtsolar.com