Kicks off full-swing advance into sapphire wafer production for LED business
In a bid to advance into the LED business, Doosan Solmics (Joo Kwang-il, President), a leading producer of pine ceramic (ceramic for parts for semiconductor and LCD equipment), has decided to invest in Sapphire Ingot lines for R&D and to introduce advanced technologies from Japan and Russia

CEO Joo Kwang-il of SK Solmics said, “Domestic demand for Sapphire wafers for LED has been increasing more than 20 percent yearly, but the country has depended on foreign suppliers for most of its core materials; if we make the most of silicon Ingot growth technology and processing technology, which SK Solmics possesses, and introduce advanced technologies from Japan and Russia, we can secure adequate competitiveness.” Kwang added that the Company will continue to strengthen its green energy businesses, including solar cells and LEDs.

Sapphire wafers are used as circuit boards for LED (light emitting diode) lighting, a semiconductor-_ base_d lighting source that changes electric energy into light energy. Korea imports 70 percent of its demand, and domestic supply of this material is absolutely inadequate due to exponential growth of the LED market.

As part of its efforts to beef up operation in the business, SK Solmics held a board of directors meeting on September 9, and decided to invest 7.8 billion won to purchase property for a plant. Accordingly, the Company said it signed a contract to buy a 13,223 sq. meter land for its Sapphire wafer plant for LEDs at Jangdang Plant in Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province. SK Solmics said it decided to invest in the Sapphire wafer for the LED business through its board decision on June 29, and has announced that it will enter the LED business in earnest through the purchase of the plant site. Moreover, since the new property is located near its existing plant, it will help generate efficiency of location by curbing overlapping investment in infrastructure.

Expands business into LED materials business on top of solar cell material business

SK Solmics, which started its business with structural ceramic for semiconductors and LCDs, has sought to move into silicon wafers for the solar cell business by using the Si Ingot technology that it had developed on its own. The Company will have completed 60 MW production lines by the end of this year, and plans to add Sapphire Ingot and wafers to its business portfolio in the future, as it expands it business scope on the basis of single crystal Ingot technology.

Additionally, SKC, SK Solmics’s parent company, succeeded in the development and mass production of PET film, EVA film and fluoride film for solar cells, and became the world’s first company to produce all types of film for solar cells. SKC is constructing production lines for EVA sheets for solar cells which will be capable of producing 18,000 tons per year at its Jincheon Plant in North Chungcheong Plant, and is planning to cultivate the inorganic materials field, including solar cells and LEDs, as one of its next-generation growth pillars. SKC and SK Solmics plan to reinforce their synergy focused on materials for pre- and post-production of solar cells and LEDs, which are the two pillars of green energy, and to position themselves as a green material company that provides total solutions in the green growth business.