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History

Transformation from Industry Player to Industry Leader

History

1945

Vacuum Electronic Equipment Co., Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ was founded specializing in leak detector equipment.

1989

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§'s then-COO Edward H. Braun, together with a group of senior executives, led a management buy-out to create a new equipment company for the semiconductor and data storage industries. Mr. Braun was named CEO.

1994

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ completed an Initial Public Offering on the NASDAQ stock market. At the time, Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§â€™s sales were approximately $30 million.

1999

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ purchased Ion Tech, Inc. and entered into the optical coating market.

2001

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ purchased Applied EPI, its present-day Molecular Beam Epitaxy group in St. Paul, MN.

2003

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ purchased Emcore in Somerset, NJ, paving the way for its leading Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition System business for the LED market.

2007 – 2010

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ launched multiple industry-changing MOCVD and MBE compound semiconductor systems and, in 2010, sold its metrology business to focus exclusively on Process Equipment.

2011

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ becomes the #1 provider of MOCVD systems, critical to making LEDs.   The TurboDisc MaxBrightâ„¢ Multi-Reactor MOCVD system is launched to enable next-level, high volume production for general lighting.

2012

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ introduced SPECTOR-HT Ion Beam Sputtering system for high throughput optical coating applications.

2013

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ launched GENxplorâ„¢ R&D MBE System, the industry’s first fully integrated system.

2014

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ launched MOCVD systems to accelerate adoption of solid-state lighting and enable the transition from R&D to production of highly-efficient GaN power electronic devices. Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ purchased Solid State Equipment LLC (SSEC) to extend its footprint into high growth markets with wet process technologies.

2015

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ shipped its 50th EPIK 700 MOCVD reactor in less than one year and received multiple orders from a leading foundry in Asia for its WaferStormâ„¢ Wet Processing System.

2016

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ launched the TurboDisc K475iâ„¢ As/P MOCVD System for the production of red, orange, yellow (R/O/Y) light emitting diodes (LEDs), as well as multi-junction III-V solar cells, laser diodes and transistors. Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ consolidated its manufacturing operations into one facility in Somerset, New Jersey to improve operational efficiency and meet customer needs.

2017

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ acquired Ultratech, Inc, a recognized leader of lithography products for Advanced Packaging applications and for LEDs and is a pioneer for laser spike anneal technology used for production of semiconductor devices.

2018

Bill Miller, Ph.D., named CEO. Dr. Miller previously served as President and has led several growth initiatives within Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§â€™s business units and operations teams worldwide

2020

Began two-phased transformation of the company that strengthened profitability, optimized R&D and extended core technologies into semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets.

2021

Shipped the first LSA101 Laser Spike Annealing System from new San Jose, California facility to a leading semiconductor manufacturer. The facility serves as the company’s center of excellence for the development and production of laser annealing and advanced packaging lithography systems for semiconductor applications.

2023

Ó£ÌÒɬ¸£Àû¼§ acquires Epiluvac AB to accelerate penetration into high-growth silicon carbide epitaxy equipment market