IQE plc : Industry leader places record $1.0m I...

Cardiff, UK, 16 April 2014 - IQE plc (AIM: IQE; "IQE", "the Group"), the leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductor wafers to the global semiconductor industry, has received its first  $1 million purchase order agreement for InSb substrates which are used in advanced mid-wave infrared imaging technology. 

IQE Infrared's US substrate division, Galaxy Compound Semiconductor Inc., has been contracted to deliver volume quantities of InSb substrates to an industry leader and long term customer of the Group.  This represents the largest order to date for this new range of Infrared substrates.

InSb is the material of choice for mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) imaging technology and cameras fabricated from InSb are used in a wide variety of advanced imaging applications (defence, security, medical and industrial).  IQE infrared is uniquely positioned in this market and is the exclusive supplier of all InSb to industry, with IQE's US (Galaxy) and UK (Wafer Technology) operations collectively meeting the requirements of its customers to provide a secure, dual source supply of InSb substrates. 

Dr Drew Nelson, CEO of IQE plc, commented:

"We are very pleased to receive this order from a long term customer of our InSb substrate product range. The scale of this commitment reflects our success in being able to offer a volume manufacturing capability for InSb materials.  The investments that we have made to enhance our crystal growth, wafering and substrate polishing capabilities at both Galaxy and Wafer Technology will enable us to fully meet the InSb product demands of our customers, both in terms of volume and quality, across a full 2"-6" product range."

Contacts

IQE plc
[phone]
Drew Nelson
Phil Rasmussen
Chris Meadows
Mark Furlong

Canaccord Genuity
[phone]
Simon Bridges
Cameron Duncan

Peel Hunt
[phone]
Richard Kauffer
Daniel Harris

Instinctif Partners
[phone]
Adrian Duffield
Kay Larsen

NOTE TO EDITORS

ABOUT IQE

www.iqep.com

IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications, supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.

IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers ('epiwafers') to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms.

IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computing and industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; and optical communications.

The Group also manufactures advanced optoelectronic and photonic components such as semiconductor lasers, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and optical sensors for a wide range of applications including optical fibre communications, optical storage, thermal imaging, leading-edge medical products, pico-projection, finger navigation ultra-high brightness LEDs, and high efficiency concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells.

The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.

IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials. In this way, IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby significantly reducing operating risk.

IQE operates a number of manufacturing and R&D facilities across Europe, Asia and the USA. The Group also delivers its products and services through regional sales offices located in major economic centres worldwide

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Source: IQE plc via Globenewswire

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