Press release:
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday January 29, 8:39 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Isonics Corporation
Isonics Corporation Right On Track
Begins Shipping Silicon-On-Insulator Wafers
Industry Expects Silicon Wafer Revenues To Grow 9.5% To $5.72 Billion In 2002
GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2002--Isonics Corporation (Nasdaq:ISON - news) a leader in the development of isotopically engineered semiconductor materials and a supplier of isotopes for life sciences and health care applications, has announced that they have met the target date set forth in a previous press release and have begun shipping thick film silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers.
``The market for thick film SOI wafers appears quite robust as evidenced by the number of customer inquiries in our first few weeks of marketing,'' said Dr. Stephen J. Burden, Vice President of Semiconductor Materials for Isonics Corporation. ``As anticipated in our January 8 press release, we have met our objective to ship SOI product wafers to customers before the end of January,'' he added.
According to a new forecast presented earlier this month at the Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS), demand for semiconductor manufacturing materials will see a recovery this year from sharp declines in 2001 with silicon wafer revenues growing 9.5% to $5.72 billion in 2002 from $5.23 billion last year.
Isonics, which is currently focusing on the optical MEMS market, which utilizes SOI wafers for production of optical switches for networking and communications applications, expects to begin production of qualification wafers for a number of large volume users in the electronics field next month.
Isonics further announced that it has hired Dr. Hans Walitzki as Vice President of Advanced Wafer Technology. Dr. Walitzki, who received a PhD in Physics from Bonn University in Germany, worked for 15 years in senior management positions in manufacturing, technology and product management at Wacker Siltronic, a leading silicon wafer manufacturer. In 1997 Dr. Walitzki co-founded Silicon Evolution, Inc. (SEI), which successfully manufactured silicon-on-insulator wafers and sold them to a wide range of customers. In September 2001, Isonics acquired exclusive rights to SEI's intellectual property for manufacturing low cost SOI and other types of silicon wafers. After an anticipated second funding round failed to materialize, SEI filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2001 and is in the process of being liquidated.
``We are very fortunate to have Dr. Walitzki on our team,'' James E. Alexander Isonics' Chairman & CEO commented. ``His first task is to implement certain of the SEI technology into the manufacturing process at Silicon Quest, our SOI alliance partner. The fact that we have shipped our first SOI product wafers in such a short time is evidence that this relationship and the technology are working well.''
ABOUT ISONICS CORPORATION - Isonics is a world leader in isotopically engineered materials and produces isotopically pure silicon-28 chemicals and wafers and silicon-on-insulator wafers (SOI) for the semiconductor industry. Isonics also markets and sells stable isotopes for the health care industry such as carbon-13 for diagnostic breath tests and drug design, and oxygen-18 for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Stable isotopes can be thought of as ultra pure materials. For additional information visit isonics.com.
Except for historical information contained herein, this document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results or outcomes to be materially different from those anticipated and discussed herein, and which may result in the parties being unable or unwilling to complete the transaction described herein. Further, the Company operates in industries where securities values may be volatile and may be influenced by regulatory and other factors beyond the Company's control. Other important factors that the Company believes might cause such differences are discussed in the risk factors detailed in the Company's 10-KSB for the year ended April 30, 2001 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which include the Company's cash flow difficulties, dependence on significant customers, and rapid development of technology, among other risks. In assessing forward-looking statements contained herein, readers are urged to carefully read all cautionary statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Contact:
Isonics Corporation, Golden
Dr. Stephen J. Burden, 303/279-7900
sburden@isonics.com
or
Investor Relations Services, Inc., New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Gary Frank, 386/409-0200
ison@invrel.net |
