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AXT, Inc. Announces Promotion of Chia-Li Wei to Chief Technology Officer
| Source: AXT,Inc.
FREMONT, CA--(Marketwire - November 27, 2007) - AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ : AXTI ), a leading
manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates, today announced the
promotion of Chia-Li Wei to chief technology officer, effective December 1,
2007. Wei joined AXT in May 2007 as senior director of technology. He will
continue to be responsible for directing AXT's technical vision and leading
all aspects of the company's technology development, including further
refinement of AXT's proprietary VGF process, the investigation of
alternative crystal growth processes and the development of products using
complimentary materials such as gallium nitride (GaN), gallium phosphide
(GaP) or silicon carbide (SiC). Wei is principally located in AXT's
manufacturing facility in Beijing and will now report to Phil Yin, chairman
and chief executive officer.
"The compound semiconductor and solar industries into which we sell our
products are growing, driven by continued demand for wireless handsets and
LEDs and worldwide interest in harnessing solar power," said Phil Yin,
chairman and chief executive officer. "AXT constantly strives to stay at
the forefront of technology to serve those markets with a wide array of
products developed to meet future device parametric requirements.
"As part of our on-going focus on technology development, particularly in
the LED and solar markets, we are very pleased to announce the promotion of
Chia-Li Wei to chief technology officer. His experience in Liquid
Encapsulated Czochralski crystal growth technology will allow us to provide
lower cost alternatives to VGF-grown semi-conducting substrates. It will
also allow us to broaden our product offering and increase our total market
opportunity by providing an alternative technology for certain applications
that will enhance AXT's current market base such as new applications for
LEDs, including GaP and small diameter semi-conducting gallium arsenide
(GaAs). Chia-Li's expertise in MOCVD further enhances our understanding of
the epitaxial and device parametrics and thus strengthens our partnerships
with our LED customers. The Czochralski crystal growth technology also
provides us with an alternative method to grow germanium for concentrator
photovoltaic applications. This will become increasingly important as the
germanium area of our business grows. In all of these areas, Chia-Li has
been a tremendous asset to AXT since joining the company in May and I look
forward to leveraging his expertise as part of AXT's executive management
team."
Wei has more than 30 years of engineering experience in compound
semiconductor manufacturing with Tier 1 companies. His areas of expertise
include MOCVD epitaxial processing, which is used for LEDs, and Liquid
Encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) growth of indium phosphide (InP), gallium
phosphide (GaP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). Prior to joining AXT, he
spent more than 25 years in various epitaxial process engineering positions
with HP-OED, which was acquired by Lumileds and then became Philips
Lumileds. Prior to joining HP-OED, Wei spent three years in process
engineering development in LEC growth of both indium phosphide (InP) and
low-D gallium arsenide with the central research lab of Varian Associates.
Wei holds a bachelor of science degree in metallurgical engineering from
the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a master of science
degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Tennessee.
About AXT, Inc.
AXT designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance
compound and single element semiconductor substrates comprising gallium
arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) and germanium (Ge) through its
manufacturing facilities in Beijing, China. In addition, AXT maintains its
sales, administration and customer service functions at its headquarters in
Fremont, California. The company's substrate products are used primarily
in lighting display applications, wireless communications, and fiber optic
communications. Its vertical gradient freeze (VGF) technique for
manufacturing semiconductor substrates provides significant benefits over
other methods and enabled AXT to become a leading manufacturer of such
substrates, particularly in optoelectronics applications. AXT has
manufacturing facilities in China and invests in five joint ventures
producing raw materials. For more information, see AXT's website at
http://www.axt.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
The foregoing paragraphs contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Federal Securities laws, including statements related to the
future performance of the company and our ability to continue penetrate new
markets, explore new products, as well as relating to improvements in our
competitive position and our technology development. These forward-looking
statements are based upon specific assumptions that are subject to
uncertainties and factors relating to the company's operations and business
environment, which could cause actual results of the company to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements contained in the foregoing discussion. These uncertainties and
factors include but are not limited to the impact of customer qualification
of our products, improvements in our production processes, product quality
and yields, cost and supply of raw materials, the impact of technology
developments providing new markets for GaAs and Ge substrates, overall
conditions in the markets in which the company competes as well as market
conditions and trends; market acceptance and demand for the company's
products; and other factors as set forth in the company's annual report on
Form 10-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Each of these factors is difficult to predict and many are
beyond the company's control. The company does not undertake any obligation
to update publicly any forward-looking statement, as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.