Unparalleled
Industrial sapphire is a growth market, and Rubicon remains the unparalleled leader in the production and delivery of high-volume superior quality sapphire products. Sapphire today is most often associated with LED lighting—with approximately 90 percent of high brightness LEDs produced on sapphire substrates. Meanwhile, the versatile nature of sapphire’s physical characteristics—hardness, optical clarity, physical strength, resistance to impact, abrasion and corrosion, durability under extreme pressure and temperature, and bio-compatibility—is driving a diversification of demand across multiple industries.
As the number and variety of applications for sapphire grows, Rubicon’s peerless tradition of innovation enables the company to meet diversified demand and deliver high volumes of exceptional quality sapphire in a variety of sizes and crystal planar orientations. This unique capacity is made possible by Rubicon’s vertically integrated manufacturing capability—controlling the sapphire production process from raw material through finished product. In addition to fostering ongoing innovation and process refinement, vertical integration enables true self-reliance and empowers Rubicon to effectively control costs and consistently meet customer requirements. The result: Rubicon remains the established, trusted supplier of choice to a growing roster of demanding manufacturers.
Addressing the demands of emerging markets while maintaining leadership in existing industries requires continuous process innovation—an area in which Rubicon is without equal. The year 2012 was marked by a variety of process improvements and innovations that will not only facilitate entry into new markets, but also bolster the company’s global leadership as a supplier to the LED industry.
Increasing quality and lumen efficacy are spurring adoption of LEDs within the general illumination market, and increasingly attractive pricing for LED replacement bulbs is meeting with increased consumer enthusiasm. Solid State Lighting requires high-quality sapphire, and the need for continued cost efficiencies should result in greater demand for larger-diameter sapphire substrates. The LED lighting market is coming of age—poised for substantial long-term growth worldwide—and Rubicon is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of LED manufacturers.
Rubicon’s singular expertise in large-diameter sapphire substrate production continues to fuel the fast-growing market for Silicon-on-Sapphire (SoS) wafers, used to produce high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). Demand for SoS RFICs—employed in smartphone handsets, communications infrastructure, consumer, industrial, automotive, military and space applications—remains strong and is growing.
As we move through 2013 and beyond, Rubicon leads a burgeoning global market in both technological innovation and business performance. Continued innovation, product excellence and delivery prowess will remain the hallmarks of our company.