12/12/2013 Brief History Cominco sold their Electronic Materials - - PDF document

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Firebird Technologies

“HOW WE GOT THERE”

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• Cominco sold their Electronic Materials division to

Johnson Matthey (JM) in early 1990

• JM closed the facility in Trail in early 1991 and moved

its Trail assets to Spokane, WA and Victoria, BC

• Of the 120 employees, JM retained five to work in

Spokane and three in Victoria

• Oppourtunity to enter a few small niche markets

became available

Brief History

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• Three former Cominco Electronic Materials

employees started Firebird in late 1991

• First Indium Antimonide (InSb) wafer produced by

late 1992

• Another three former Cominco Electronic Materials

employees joined the team in early 1993

• Remained a small ‘Ma and Pa’ business until 1995
• Major management change in 2005, in order to grow

company for potential sale or IPO

• Firebird sold to publically traded company in late

2009

Brief History

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• Melt HP Indium and Antimony together and then zone

refine to form ‘poly’ InSb (7N5)

Process Overview

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• Grow ‘single’ crystal InSb using the Czochrakski

crystal growth method

Process Overview

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• A grown ‘single’ crystal InSb crystal (325mm long x

125mm diameter)

Process Overview

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• Ultra flat, ‘EPI’ ready surface finish to clients

Process Overview

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• Focal Plane Arrays (FPA’s) for commercial and

military Infrared (IR) camera systems

InSb Product Use

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• Camera’s output of visual image from IR signal

InSb Product Use

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1993 - 1995

• Asked ourselves, “How can we develop our product

to be the World’s best?”

• Continually re-invest profits (>50%) into R&D, so we

could bring a new product to market before the customer even knew they needed it

• A prime example of this was to increase wafer

diameters, from 2” to 3”, BEFORE our customers requested it

• We continued this business strategy for the life of the

company

How We Got There

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1995 - 2003

• Continued R&D to improve wafer finish, flatness, and

cleanliness

• Continued to develop and grow larger crystals and

sold the World’s first 4” InSb wafer by 2000

• Hired eight more people that FIT our culture
• Made sure we had face-to-face meetings with our

customers, at least, twice/year

• Kept our ‘oxygen canisters full’ ($$$), so we could

continue to climb the mountain

How We Got There

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2003 - 2005

• Our first major business mistake!!! We used up all our
• xygen trying to run up the mountain, instead of a

slow, steady climb

• This led to a total re-structuring of the management

team and a change in business strategy

– Focus back on the core business (InSb) and regain the status of World’s Best – Vertically integrate into starting materials to lower costs – Evaluate staffing levels and procedures

How We Got There

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2005 - 2009

• Stayed focused on our core business and became

the World leader in InSb, once again

• The customer was always right!
• Increased bottom line by rewarded staff with work/life

balance (broadbanding, flex hours, etc.)

• Created ‘Heros in every role’
• Created exit strategy for company shareholders,

found buyer, and sold company in Dec/09

How We Got There

Firebird Technologies

Expanding the World’s Vision through Technology™

THANKS FOR WATCHING.