HexaTech, Inc., a market leader in Aluminum Nitride (AlN) based semiconductor material and devices, announced today the signing of a broad, strategic agreement with Okaya & Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, and its US subsidiary, Okaya USA, Inc. The agreement establishes Okaya as the sole representative for HexaTech's AlN substrate products in Japan, and also includes a direct equity investment by Okaya in HexaTech. It further sets the stage for Okaya to assume a leadership position to market and sell HexaTech's line of UV-C LEDs targeted for launch later this year.
HexaTech's ultra-high quality AlN materials have been shown to be an essential foundation for record-setting UV-C LEDs, which hold tremendous potential to revolutionize the sterilization and purification markets, by providing compact, highly efficient, long-life sources of light.
John Goehrke, HexaTech CEO stated, "We are very excited about the agreement, and the close collaborative relationship that we have forged with Okaya. Their strong belief in HexaTech and our current and future products, as supported by the Japanese market, highlight that our business strategy is ideally positioned and customer-focused. Further, as we look to our upcoming UV-C LED launch, we anticipate a further integration of our business activities, relying on Okaya's strengths in this important market."
"We are very excited to form this strategic alliance with HexaTech', remarked Okaya senior management. 'HexaTech's current substrate products, as we know from our customers, are not only world-leading, but we foresee their future LED products to be in great demand, creating significant opportunities for both companies."
“Okaya also has a background in wide-bandgap power devices, and this will benefit us as we target bringing Gen 1 components to market in the 2017 timeframe. There is a long standing capability and interest in wide bandgap power devices in Japan. Groups currently working with SiC, specifically those developing technologies in the 3.3 kV range and higher, such as Fuji Electric, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and others, will likely be early customers. Our initial effort is targeted at a pseudo-vertical Schottky structure. This goal is for this development program to evolve into family of components, including both diodes and switches†stated Greg Mills, Director, Business Development with HexaTech.
