Materion to Develop ALD Precursors and Battery Materials in a New Facility

From the Cleveland Business Journal

Materion Corp., the advanced materials company in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, has built a facility to accelerate the growth of advanced chemicals for the semiconductor and electric vehicle battery markets.

The 150,000-square-foot facility in Milwaukee expands Materion's capacity to produce atomic layer deposition (ALD) materials for semiconductor chips and provide advanced chemicals for developing next-generation battery technology for EVs, the company said in a statement.

Production at the new facility is expected to ramp up during the first half of next year, Materion said.

The expansion is expected to significantly enhance Materion's position as a global supplier to the high-growth semiconductor industry, the company said.

The move follows the company's 2021 acquisition of H.C. Starck's HCS-Electronic Materials business, which added tantalum- and niobium-based solutions to Materion's portfolio of precious and non-precious metal targets for semiconductor chip manufacturers, Materion said.

On the EV front, Materion is working with battery manufacturers to develop inorganic chemicals to use in next-generation vehicle batteries focused on enabling more extended range, faster charging, and enhanced safety, the company said.

Following a multi-year R&D partnership, one unnamed customer is paying $6 million to establish a prototype line in the new Milwaukee facility, Materion said. Relationships with next-generation battery customers are expected to strengthen Materion's position as a critical supplier to the automotive market, the company said.

Materion shares (NYSE: MTRN) were up 22 cents to $82.16 in mid-afternoon trading on Monday.

The Mayfield Heights company recently celebrated 25 years of work on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, providing beryllium blanks for the telescope's primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors and support structures.