IQE's Wafer Technology division to lead Thermo-...

IQE plc

IQE's Wafer Technology division to lead £2 million 4" GaSb
Thermo-Photovoltaic (TPV) Project

IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier
of advanced semiconductor  wafer products and  wafer services to  the
semiconductor industry, is pleased to announce that its Milton Keynes
based  wafer   operation,  Wafer   Technology  Ltd.,   will  lead   a
collaborative effort to develop highly efficient  thermo-photovoltaic
(TPV)  cells  for  electricity   generation  from  waste  heat   from
industrial processes.

The £2M project has  been awarded by  the Technology Strategy  Board.
Wafer  Technology  will  lead  a  consortium  of  partners  including
Lancaster University and QinetiQ.

The project aims to  realise novel low bandgap  TPV devices based  on
alloys  including  InAsSb  and   InGaSbN  lattice  matched  to   GaSb
substrates. Such cells will exhibit significantly higher efficiencies
than existing devices and will more effectively generate  electricity
from waste heat sources at temperatures below 1000ºC.

Wafer Technology's contribution will be to extend their world leading
GaSb substrate technology to 4" diameter. Lancaster and QinetiQ  will
undertake epitaxial growth studies of  these novel narrow gap  alloys
and QinetiQ will  also fabricate the  devices. Prototype TPV  systems
will be validated by two further industrial partners to assess  their
performance in real industrial processes and environments.

Commenting on  the  project, Dr  Mark  Furlong, Sales  and  Marketing
Director at  IQE's Wafer  Technology Division  said:  "Thermo-voltaic
cells will play an important role  in the drive towards providing  an
efficient and cost effective  way of recovering  waste energy from  a
wide range of  industrial processes  and recycling  that energy  into
electricity. TPV's add to the growing portfolio of the Group's energy
efficient products that include ultra  high brightness LEDs and  high
efficiency concentrator-photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells."



Contacts:
Technical/sales: Wafer Technology Ltd ([phone])
Becky Martinez
[e-mail]


Press/Investors: IQE plc ([phone])
Chris Meadows



NOTE TO EDITORS
IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers
with products that cover a diverse range of applications, supported
by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio that allows
the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the
world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.

IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture
and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers ('epi-wafers') to the major
chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the
chips which form the key components of virtually all high technology
systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of
the leading crystal growth technology platforms.

IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer,
communication, computing and industrial applications, including a
complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as
mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base
stations, GPS, and satellite communications; optical communications,
optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mouse, laser printers &
photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products,
barcode, high brightness LEDs, a variety of advanced silicon based
systems and high efficiency concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar
cells.

The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to
outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in
order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.

IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised
materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical
staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or
on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage its
global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials. In
this way IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits in
terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby
significantly reducing operating risk.

IQE operates six manufacturing facilities located in Cardiff (two)
and Milton Keynes in the UK; in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Somerset,
New Jersey in the USA; and Singapore. The Group also has 11 sales
offices located in major economic centres worldwide.


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