AIXTRON Opens Training and Demonstration Laboratory in Suzhou

A ceremony was held today to mark the opening of AIXTRON SE’s (FSE: AIXA; NASDAQ: AIXG) new training and demonstration center at SINANO - the Suzhou Institute for Nanotechnology and Nanobionics.

A representative of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the German Consul General in China, many of AIXTRON's key customers and numerous partners from leading universities and research institutes from across Greater China took part in the ceremony in the city of Suzhou, China.

At the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) in the Yangtze River Delta – one of China's most influential business locations – future Chinese MOCVD experts will be trained in the latest semiconductor technology and manufacturing processes. The AIXTRON center will be able to draw upon the collaborative synergies between exceptional industrial and institutional research and also offers a very high quality of training.

"In order to achieve China’s aim of global LED leadership, LED products made in China need to be able to take the lead in lighting quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. I believe that this cooperative arrangement will make a significant contribution toward achieving these goals," said a spokesperson for SINANO. "One of the new facility’s main priorities will be to provide Chinese customers with the depth of process knowledge they need in order to optimize their devices."

“China is now playing a significant global role in the emergence of the LED lighting market through the extensive national and regional encouragement of LED applications.” AIXTRON's President & CEO Paul Hyland said in his speech. "At the new center, we will be able to proactively support our customers´ technology developments by utilizing the very latest AIXTRON technologies and by providing the highest quality training, not only in the field of LEDs but also in other nanotechnology areas, including GaN-on-Si." The cooperative agreement with SINANO will facilitate the full process and characterization of LEDs, the technical properties of which are essential to lighting product quality.

The training courses offered will use AIXTRON's latest generation CRIUS® II-XL and AIX G5 HT systems and will be held in a production cleanroom environment, laboratories, and classroom training facilities that occupy a total area of 350 sqm. "We will focus on the most critical factors in the manufacturing process, which will enable operators of MOCVD facilities to achieve better system utilization times and higher yields, thereby reducing their operating costs – our focus will be on operational efficiency, maintenance routines, process optimization and fab management," announced Dr. Nicolas Muesgens, Director of the AIXTRON Training and Demonstration Center. "In Suzhou, we will offer intensive, science-based, hands-on training courses to small groups, led by AIXTRON's highly qualified and experienced engineers."

AIXTRON delivers key-enabling technologies for innovative and energy-efficient applications. The company has more than 30 years of experience in developing MOCVD production technologies for a wide range of innovative and highly complex semiconductor devices, such as LEDs, lasers, transistors and solar cells. As well as AIXTRON’s focus on best-practice commercial considerations, the new training center in Suzhou, will also pay special attention to operational health and safety issues and to the protection of the environment, by adhering to and promoting German, international and Chinese product-safety and waste-management standards.