Rubicon to display industry-leading, very large, defect-free sapphire for optical applications in a wide range of industries

Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN) announced that it will showcase its line of optical products for use in defense and aerospace, instrumentation and analytical processing, sensors and detectors, semiconductor process equipment, and medical and laser applications at the Photonics West Exhibition, February 5-7 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. The company will showcase a very large 12-inch sapphire window in booth #2200 in the South Hall.

Sapphire is a desirable material for high-performance applications due to its hardness and strength, transparency in the visible and IR spectrum, thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, abrasion resistance, high melting point and chemical inertness. As a result, it is ideally suited for extreme environments where material durability is just as important as optical clarity.

Rubicon provides a wide range of sapphire products including sapphire cores, ingots, windows and blanks as well as wafers in 4-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch diameters. In addition to a very large 12-inch sapphire window, the company will display its line of optical products including 85 kg boule, sapphire tubes and rods, one small dome, and sapphire ingots at Photonics West.

Sapphire Applications in Industry
Defense & Aerospace -- Sapphire is used in the defense and aerospace industries due to its broad transmission range in the UV through IR spectrum, resistance to scratching and corrosion in sand or salt environments and impact resistance. Applications include targeting systems and protected optics for fighter jets, UAVs and helicopters, FLIRs and Enhanced Vision Systems for aircraft, sensor suites and shaped optics for land, air and sea vehicles, missile domes, countermeasure lamps and transparent armor systems.

Instrumentation & Analytical Processing -- Sapphire often replaces quartz and glass to provide longer life in equipment and consumables. Sapphire's chemical resistance, ability to withstand high temperature and high pressure, and ability to transmit in UV and IR ranges make it ideal for applications in instrumentation and analytical processing such as mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry, digestive cells, and other analytical applications.

Sensors & Detectors -- Sapphire’s UV and IR transmission properties--in combination with its ability to withstand harsh chemicals, high pressures and temperatures--offer strong advantages for fire and IR detectors, protective windows and thermocouple protection sheaths for remote sensors, and optics for harsh environments such as oil-well drilling, chemical processing and other industrial processes.

Semiconductor Process Equipment -- Sapphire’s durability and resistance to fluorine chemistries and high-temperature process environments up to 2,000°C offer advantages over materials such as quartz, alumina and other ceramics for semiconductor process equipment. Sapphire often replaces these materials in process chamber environments.

Medical & Laser -- Sapphire's optical transmission range, durability, ability to be shaped into sharp-edged products and inertness with human tissue offer advantages for specific medical laser applications for dermatology, ophthalmology and dentistry. Sapphire products are also used for surgical tools, implants, braces and in a variety of windows for medical equipment such as endoscopes and lasers.