Profile: Rubicon Technology, Inc. (RBCN.O)

Rubicon Technology, Inc. (Rubicon), incorporated on February 7, 2001, is an electronic materials provider. The Company develops, manufactures and sells monocrystalline sapphire and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), blue laser diodes, optoelectronics and other optical applications. Its product line is two to four inch sapphire wafers for use in LEDs and blue laser diodes for solid state lighting and electronic applications. In addition, it sells six inch sapphire wafers that are used for Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) RFICs, as well as products for military, aerospace, sensor and other applications. It also manufactures six inch products to support LED, and eight inch products to support RFIC and optical window applications. Rubicon sells its products on a global basis to customers in Asia, North America and Europe.

The Company’s evolving science, evolving solutions (ES2) technology enables the Company to produce large diameter sapphire wafers. The Company offers a variety of sapphire products designed to meet the specifications of its customers. The Company fabricates its products from the boules and sells them in four categories: core, as-cut, as-ground and polished. Rubicon offers two inch, three inch, four inch, six inch and eight inch diameter wafers, in C, R, A, and M planar orientations.

The Company’s core product line consists of sapphire cores drilled from sapphire boules with high-precision, and is available in two, three, four, six and eight inch diameters and in various lengths and orientations. During the year ended December 31, 2008, sales of core accounted for 37% of the Company’s revenue. Rubicon’s as-cut product line consists of sapphire cores sliced using a wire saw machine. During 2008, sales of as-cut wafers accounted for 24% of its revenue. The Company’s as-ground product line consists of cut sapphire wafers that undergo a double-sided lapping and edge grinding process. The lapping process ensures that the surface of the wafer is flat and smooth and has a high degree of parallelism. The grinding process bevels the edges of the wafers, making them durable and less susceptible to chipping and cracking. During 2008, sales of as-ground wafers accounted for less than 15% of its revenue.

The Company’s polished product line consists of polished, clean, six and eight inch sapphire wafers. Its polished wafers undergo two polishing phases, including both a mechanical and a chemical mechanical planarization phase. During 2008, sales of polished wafers accounted for 24% of its revenue. Rubicon also offers optically-polished windows and ground window blanks of sapphire and various fluoride compounds, such as calcium, barium and magnesium fluoride. It provides sapphire and other crystal products in many sizes, shapes and product formats for specialty applications.