National Epitaxy Facility
The National Epitaxy Facility is a UK research consortium (Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, UCL) providing bespoke MBE and MOVPE epitaxial wafer growth and characterization services to UK university researchers and industrial partners in semiconductor, quantum, and photonics applications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersSheffield, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What National Epitaxy Facility does
The National Epitaxy Facility is a UK research consortium operated jointly by the Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, and University College London that provides bespoke semiconductor epitaxial wafers and associated characterization services to academic and industrial researchers. Its core technical capabilities center on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Metal-Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) for the growth of III-V compound semiconductors (including arsenides, phosphides, antimonides, and GaN-based materials) and Group IV materials (silicon and germanium), supported by structural, electrical, and optical characterization tools, all delivered under ISO9001 quality management maintained since 2014. The facility operates 11 epitaxial reactors distributed across three sites, each with distinct specialization: Sheffield for III-V MOVPE and MBE plus GaN MOVPE, Cambridge for specialist GaN epitaxy, and UCL for Group IV MBE.
The facility's revenue model blends public grant funding with commercial service income. The primary capital source is a £12M Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant running from July 2022 to June 2027, supplemented by a £6.6M Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) infrastructure investment received in March 2025. Commercial epitaxy services are provided to UK industry at quoted rates under direct contracts, while UKRI grant holders access services at discounted pricing. Customer engagement is manual and consultative: researchers initiate via email, complete a structured epitaxy request spreadsheet, receive a quotation, and track progress through the Epiportal system, with typical delivery within 90 days. The facility supports over £150m of UKRI grants across 30+ UK universities and serves named industrial customers including Toshiba, Arm Web Services, IQE Plc, and quantum photonics startup Aegiq, with application areas spanning quantum computing, mid-infrared silicon photonics, terahertz devices, and compound semiconductor manufacturing.
National Epitaxy Facility firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- National Epitaxy Facility
- Legal name
- National Epitaxy Facility
- Website
- https://nationalepitaxyfacility.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The National Epitaxy Facility is a UK research consortium (Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, UCL) providing bespoke MBE and MOVPE epitaxial wafer growth and characterization services to UK university researchers and industrial partners in semiconductor, quantum, and photonics applications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
National Epitaxy Facility industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Semiconductor Epitaxy Services
- NAICS
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (3344), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)
- SIC
- Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Epitaxy Materials & Services (Epi Wafers/MBE/MOCVD) (HDAHAGAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Compound Semiconductor Wafers & Substrates (SiC/GaN/GaAs/InP/Sapphire) (HDAHAGAB), Wafer Services & Reclaim (Epitaxy, Thinning, Reclaim) (HDAHACAH)
Keywords
Where National Epitaxy Facility is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sheffield
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
National Epitaxy Facility business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- EPSRC Research Grant Funding: Funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of network of National Research Centres. Received £12M grant (2022-2027) to support UK semiconductor research community.
- Commercial Epitaxy Services: Provides epitaxy services to UK industry at commercial rates. Also provides services under direct contract mechanisms for industrial partners. Epitaxy provided at discounted price for UKRI grants.
- Government Infrastructure Investment: Received £6.6m investment from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as part of semiconductor infrastructure investment.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | UKRI Grant Discounted Rate |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Commercial/Industry Rate |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
National Epitaxy Facility product offering
Product offeringCore offering
National Epitaxy Facility (NEF) is a UK research consortium providing semiconductor epitaxial growth services, including Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Metal-Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), for the fabrication of III-V, Group IV, and nitride compound semiconductor wafer structures. Operated jointly by the Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, and UCL, NEF maintains 11 epitaxial reactors across three sites and serves UK academic and industrial customers. The facility also offers material characterisation, wafer design consultation, and micro-transfer printing, and has been ISO9001 certified since 2014.
Product overview
The National Epitaxy Facility operates as a consortium between the Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, and UCL, providing bespoke epitaxial wafer services for UK semiconductor research. The core offerings are Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Metal-Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) growth technologies for III-V compound semiconductors and Group IV materials (silicon/germanium). The facility offers these as distinct but complementary services across three UK university sites, with specialized capabilities: Sheffield focuses on III-V MOVPE and MBE plus GaN MOVPE; Cambridge specializes in GaN epitaxy; and UCL provides Group IV MBE. Supporting services include material characterization (electrical, optical, structural), wafer design consultation, and pump priming access for researchers without grants. The facility also provides a commercial epitaxy service for industry.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) Service Ultra-high-vacuum epitaxial growth service for III-V and Group IV compound semiconductor wafer structures, used by academic researchers and industrial R&D teams to produce precisely controlled atomic-layer semiconductor heterostructures.
- Metal-Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) Service Atmospheric and low-pressure MOVPE growth service for III-V nitride, arsenide, phosphide, and antimonide compound semiconductor wafers, including GaN, InP, GaAs, and related heterostructures for photonic, electronic, and quantum device applications.
- Gallium Nitride (GaN) Epitaxy Specialist GaN epitaxial wafer growth service on sapphire, SiC, and silicon substrates, supporting research and development of blue/UV optoelectronics, power electronics, and high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) device structures.
- Material Characterisation Service Multi-technique semiconductor wafer characterisation service using atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), and electrochemical capacitance-voltage (ECV) profiling to verify epitaxial layer quality, composition, and doping.
- Micro-Transfer Printing (MTP) Service Micro-transfer printing service that enables heterogeneous integration of epitaxially grown III-V semiconductor coupons onto silicon, silicon nitride, and other non-native host substrates, supporting hybrid photonic and electronic integration.
- Wafer Design Consultation Expert technical consulting service assisting customers in designing epitaxial layer structures, selecting materials systems, and planning growth recipes suited to their target device applications.
Quantifiable outcome
- ISO9001 certified since 2014
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use National Epitaxy Facility
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
National Epitaxy Facility technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
National Epitaxy Facility partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride (University of Cambridge)corePartner institution offering specialist world-class capabilities in wide band gap nitrides. Provides additional MOVPE capability for nitrides and characterization support for GaN technologies.
- UCL MBE Group (University College London)corePartner institution providing Group IV materials (Si, Ge) and world-class MBE capabilities. Able to supply wide variety of Group-IV materials, alloy combinations and structures.
- School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (University of Sheffield)coreLead university partner, internationally respected for contributions in electronic and electrical engineering. Houses main epitaxy facilities and characterization equipment.
- The Quantum Centre @ SheffieldcoreUniversity-wide collaboration of over 50 researchers developing quantum technologies. NEF provides crystal growth capabilities for III-V semiconductor devices.
- Institute of Physics Semiconductor Physics GroupminorSupports the UK Semiconductors Conference organized by NEF.
- REWIRE-IKCminorPartner in EDI Pilot Study to Increase Diversity of Semiconductor Researchers, along with CHIMES-IKC and The Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub.
- CHIMES-IKCminorPartner in EDI Pilot Study to Increase Diversity of Semiconductor Researchers.
- The Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub for a Sustainable FutureminorPartner in EDI Pilot Study to Increase Diversity of Semiconductor Researchers.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
National Epitaxy Facility competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- IntelliEPI: US-based commercial MBE wafer foundry offering custom epitaxial wafers for III-V and II-VI materials. Comparable to NEF in providing bespoke research-grade and production epitaxy services.
- IQE Plc: IQE is the UK's leading commercial supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products (GaAs, InP, GaN, SiC) and a customer of NEF. It is the most direct commercial comparator to NEF's epitaxy services at production scale.
- Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. (VPEC): Taiwan-based commercial epitaxy provider specializing in GaAs and InP HBT/pHEMT wafer services. Direct competitor in compound semiconductor epitaxial wafer services.
- Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS): US-based compound semiconductor foundry offering GaAs, InP, and GaN epitaxial wafer services. Direct commercial competitor to NEF for compound semiconductor R&D and production wafers.
Regional players
- Tyndall National Institute: Irish research institute with epitaxy and microfabrication capabilities serving academic and industry clients. Comparable national-infrastructure model to NEF with MBE and MOCVD competencies.
- III-V Lab: French joint research laboratory (Nokia, Thales, CEA) offering epitaxial growth and characterization for III-V materials. Comparable research-consortium model to NEF but serving a different European geography.
Broad incumbents
- Coherent Corp: Large global materials and semiconductor equipment company that operates epitaxy and compound semiconductor substrate businesses. Comparable in materials scope (SiC, GaAs, InP) but at a vastly larger commercial scale than NEF.
- Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF): German research institute operating MBE and MOCVD epitaxy for compound semiconductors and providing characterization, similar in scope to NEF but with a broader applied research mandate and larger scale.
Emerging players
- Element Six: De Beers subsidiary and a customer of NEF-type III-V facilities historically, Element Six specializes in synthetic diamond and wide-bandgap materials with adjacent epitaxy capabilities relevant to NEF's compound semiconductor work.
- Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride: University of Cambridge GaN research center that is itself a core NEF consortium partner. Included as a peer because it independently operates MOVPE and characterization capabilities for wide-bandgap nitrides, partially overlapping NEF's GaN offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
National Epitaxy Facility social profiles
Digital presenceNational Epitaxy Facility compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
National Epitaxy Facility financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
National Epitaxy Facility leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles21 records
National Epitaxy Facility funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
National Epitaxy Facility M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about National Epitaxy Facility
What does National Epitaxy Facility do?
National Epitaxy Facility (NEF) is a UK research consortium providing semiconductor epitaxial growth services, including Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Metal-Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), for the fabrication of III-V, Group IV, and nitride compound semiconductor wafer structures. Operated jointly by the Universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, and UCL, NEF maintains 11 epitaxial reactors across three sites and serves UK academic and industrial customers. The facility also offers material characterisation, wafer design consultation, and micro-transfer printing, and has been ISO9001 certified since 2014.
Is National Epitaxy Facility a public or private company?
National Epitaxy Facility is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was National Epitaxy Facility founded?
National Epitaxy Facility was founded in 1978. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is National Epitaxy Facility based?
National Epitaxy Facility is headquartered in Sheffield, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does National Epitaxy Facility make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. EPSRC Research Grant Funding is the primary driver. The others are commercial Epitaxy Services and government Infrastructure Investment.
Who are National Epitaxy Facility's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are IntelliEPI, IQE Plc, Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. (VPEC) and Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS). Regional players are Tyndall National Institute and III-V Lab. Broad incumbents are Coherent Corp and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF). Emerging players are Element Six and Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride.
Does National Epitaxy Facility have an API?
No public API is recorded for National Epitaxy Facility.
What industry is National Epitaxy Facility in?
National Epitaxy Facility's product category is Semiconductor Epitaxy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHAGAC, Epitaxy Materials & Services (Epi Wafers/MBE/MOCVD), with a secondary code of HDAHAGAB, Compound Semiconductor Wafers & Substrates (SiC/GaN/GaAs/InP/Sapphire). Its NAICS code is 33441 and its SIC code is 8734.