Semiconductor maker II-VI to expand capacity at plants in Northampton County and Sweden | Lehigh Valley Regional News | wfmz.com

2022-08-26 20:55:21 By : Ms. Susie Chen

A spotty evening shower or thunderstorm, then partly to mostly clear and a bit muggy. .

A spotty evening shower or thunderstorm, then partly to mostly clear and a bit muggy.

PALMER TWP., Pa. - II-VI Inc., a maker of semiconductors, will expand its wafer-making capacity in Northampton County and in Sweden as part of a $1 billion investment over 10 years. II-VI will significantly expand its nearly 300,000-square-foot local factory.

II-VI's local operation, which the company refers to as its Easton factory, is at 2251 Newlins Mill Road in Palmer Township. The company's name is pronounced "Two Six." The company is a "high-tech conglomerate with interests in many fields," according to the seekingalpha website. "The Easton factory will increase II-VI's production of SiC (silicon carbide) substrates by at least a factor of six over the next five years, and it will also become II-VI's flagship manufacturing center for 200 mm SiC epitaxial wafers, one of the largest in the world," Executive Vice President Sohail Khan said in a company statement. Khan is executive VP for new ventures and wide-bandgap electronics technologies. Silicon carbide has electronic and thermal properties that make it useful for high-power and high-frequency semiconductors. The local plant will be powered by an uninterruptible microgrid based on fuel-cell technology. 

“This is exactly the type of development Northampton County needs,” County Executive Lamont McClure said today. “We have been working for years to generate development like this. The high-tech jobs that are created will be very welcome and will be around for years, compared to some of the warehouse jobs."

Saxonburg, Pennsylvania-based II-VI develops products for the communications, industrial, aerospace and defense, semiconductor equipment, life sciences, consumer electronics and automotive markets. It operates globally. II-VI trades under the ticker symbol IIVI on the Nasdaq market. The shares last traded at $65.08. The 52-week high for the shares is $83.45 and the low is $54.35. The company's market capitalization (shares outstanding times the current price) is $6.9 billion.

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Semiconductor manufacturer II-VI Inc. is seeking permission to build an on-site electrical plant to power a future expansion of its 2251 Newlins Mill Road factory.

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