Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., a supplier of high-performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, and Rubicon Technology, a manufacturer of sapphire substrates and other advanced technology materials, announced that Rubicon has begun initial production of 8” sapphire wafers for supply to Peregrine for its UltraCMOS™ Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) semiconductor processing.

“Rubicon aggressively ramped 6-inch sapphire substrates to support our high-volume production requirements throughout 2007 and the first half of 2008,” said Jim Cable, Peregrine’s CEO. “Last year we nearly tripled our unit volume with key design wins in the rapidly growing wireless marketplace in some of the world’s most demanding RF applications. As we migrate to 8-inch wafers and smaller geometries, our customers will benefit from unprecedented product performance and cost-effectiveness.”

This news reflects the growing demand for Peregrine’s UltraCMOS SOS RFICs. Peregrine has brought to market a variety of innovative products throughout the recent years – devices that deliver performance objectives set by market leaders with highly stringent RF design requirements. These companies include global cellular powerhouses, navigation/communications experts, as well as CATV/DTV leaders. Peregrine’s UltraCMOS devices are becoming increasingly critical in high-performance RF designs. Continued enhancements to the fundamental design technology, such as the HaRP™ technology innovation, combined with the perfectly insulating sapphire substrate, results in extremely linear FET with exceptional RF performance. The ability to integrate high-performance RF, analog, digital, passive elements and nonvolatile memory on a single, standard CMOS IC sets UltraCMOS devices apart from compound semiconductor and other mixed-signal processes.

“Peregrine has achieved a leadership position in the RFIC industry with its patented silicon-on-sapphire technology,” said Raja Parvez, president and CEO of Rubicon Technology. “We are excited to partner with Peregrine as they gain market share with their disruptive UltraCMOS-based products. Rubicon has leveraged its unique crystal growth technology platform to rapidly develop very high quality 200 mm sapphire wafers that represent the next generation substrates for SOS RFIC technology.”