(Starkville, Mississippi), August 24: The silicon carbide (SiC) research and development company of SemiSouth Laboratories recently held the grand opening of its new SiC manufacturing facility in Starkville, Mississippi. The event also marked the grand opening of II-VI Incorporated's Wide Bandgap Materials Group's (II-VI WBG) SiC wafer processing clean room, located inside the new SemiSouth facility. The collaboration between II-VI and SemiSouth will provide manufacturing development and scale-up capabilities for SiC substrates used in high-voltage, high-temperature, and high frequency electronics applications, including radar, power conversion, and radio-frequency transistors.

The partnership between the two companies will be mutually beneficial, as well as benefit the greater Starkville area. "II-VI is a world leader in its field and will be an invaluable partner with ... SemiSouth in growing this part of Mississippi into a high-technology magnet for future development," Representative Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) said. Regarding the fast-growing markets for SiC products, II-VI CEO Carl Johnson said, "We believe that close collaboration with SemiSouth will enable both companies to make rapid progress in technology development and ultimately will lead to a more efficient and effective [SiC] manufacturing process."

The demand for SiC substrates is already proving beneficial to II-VI. In July, the company received a $1 million order for 3-inch SiC substrates that will be used in the manufacturing of RF power transistors for cellular base station applications.


Photo captions from upper left corner going clockwise:

1. Carl Johnson and Marc Vandenburg of Microsemi

2. II-VI Visitor Log - Carl Johnson was the first person to sign the Visitor Log

3. Carl Johnson introducing Mark Vandenburg to Sandra Harople, Assoc. VP for Research at MSU

4. Tom Anderson with Bill Andahazy of ETA

5. Jeff Casady, CEO of SemiSouth, doing introductions

6. John Blevins, AFRL DOD Contracts Management

7. Congressman Wicker

8. WBG/SemiSouth employees at the II-VI BBQ

9. Congressman Pickering

10. Group photo in the WBG facility: Tom Anderson, Ray Ketch, Kathleen McPherson, Andy Souzis, John Blevins, Larry Unick, Jeff Emerson, Ronald Anthony

11. MSU President, Robert H. Foglesong

12. Tom Anderson with Peter Brooks, CEO of Fultec

center photo: The new SemiSouth facility, which houses the new II-VI WBG SiC clean room