II-VI Incorporated Signs Multiyear Agreement of Over $100M to Supply Silicon Carbide Substrates for RF Power Amplifiers in 5G Wireless

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- II‐VI Incorporated (Nasdaq: IIVI), a leader in engineered materials and compound semiconductors, today announced that it signed a multiyear agreement of over $100M, the largest in the history of II-VI, to supply silicon carbide (SiC) substrates for gallium nitride (GaN) RF power amplifiers deployed in 5G wireless base stations.

The accelerating rollout of 5G wireless services is driving deeper strategic relationships in the 5G wireless supply chain ecosystem to meet the market windows. This new agreement builds on II-VI’s extensive experience as a leading global supplier of high-quality SiC substrates for the 4G and 5G markets.      

“GaN-on-SiC RF power amplifiers have superior performance compared with devices based on GaN-on-silicon over a wide spectrum of 5G operating frequencies, from the low gigahertz range to millimeter-wave bands,” said Dr. Gary Ruland, Vice President, Wide Bandgap Semiconductors Business Unit. “Customers forge strategic partnerships with II-VI because of our long track record of pushing the technology forward with larger substrate diameters and industry-leading crystal quality. II-VI’s recently announced semi-insulating 200 mm silicon carbide substrates, the first in the world, will enable our customers to scale production far into the future.”

Leveraging a strong intellectual property portfolio of 30 active patents, II-VI is advancing the state of the art in SiC substrates with highly differentiated and proprietary technologies including crystal growth, substrate fabrication, and polishing. II-VI is also expanding its ability to drive the 5G RF semiconductor roadmap by establishing a vertically integrated, 150 mm GaN-on-SiC HEMT device manufacturing platform. In addition to SiC substrates, II-VI provides a powerful array of wavelength management solutions and transceivers for the wireless optical access infrastructure. Altogether, II-VI offers a broad range of materials, devices, components, and subsystems to enable the coming large-scale 5G rollout.

About II-VI Incorporated

II-VI Incorporated, a global leader in engineered materials and optoelectronic components, is a vertically integrated manufacturing company that develops innovative products for diversified applications in communications, materials processing, aerospace & defense, semiconductor capital equipment, life sciences, consumer electronics, and automotive markets. Headquartered in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, the Company has research and development, manufacturing, sales, service, and distribution facilities worldwide. The Company produces a wide variety of application-specific photonic and electronic materials and components, and deploys them in various forms, including integrated with advanced software to support our customers. For more information, please visit us at .

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Mark Lourie

Vice President, Corporate Communications