Date Announced: 18 Dec 2012 Bensenville, Ill – Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN), a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor, and optical industries, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed Rubicon’s patent application entitled, “Ultra-Flat, High-Throughput Wafer Lapping Process.” The patent covers Rubicon’s process developed to perform grinding and polishing to achieve consistent, ultra-flat and defect-free surface quality for the high-volume production of large diameter sapphire wafers.Rubicon’s customers in the LED and SoS/RFIC markets have very demanding requirements for the quality of sapphire wafers used in their applications. The patent addresses the quality and flatness challenges inherent in the production of sapphire wafers at larger diameters. The patented ultra-flat, high-throughput lapping process enables Rubicon to achieve high levels of flatness and quality while maintaining the highest levels of throughput in the production of large diameter sapphire wafers. As wafers are lapped and polished, the platens facing the wafers become worn and deformed, leading to the deterioration of wafer quality. In the patented process, the platens are continuously self-conditioned and self-optimized to maintain high performance.“Rubicon continues to build its patent portfolio and increase its technological leadership throughout the sapphire wafer manufacturing process,” said Raja M. Parvez, President and CEO of Rubicon Technology. “This patent underscores our dedication to improving the large-diameter sapphire manufacturing process and improving the leading technology platform for the high-throughput production of high-quality large diameter sapphire wafers for our customers."About Rubicon TechnologyRubicon Technology, Inc. is an advanced electronic materials provider that is engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling monocrystalline sapphire and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), blue laser diodes, optoelectronics and other optical applications. The Company applies its proprietary crystal growth technology to produce very high-quality sapphire in a form that allows for volume production of various sizes and orientations of substrates and windows. Rubicon is a vertically-integrated manufacturer with capabilities in crystal growth, high precision core drilling, wafer slicing, surface lapping, large-diameter polishing and wafer cleaning processes, which the Company employs to convert the bulk crystal into products with the quality and precision specified by its customers. The Company is the world leader in larger diameter products to support next-generation LED, RFIC and optical window applications. Further information is available at www.rubicon-es2.com.
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Beth Hespe Garfield Group Public Relations
E-mail:[email protected]
Web Site:www.rubicon-es2.com
