Adcon

What Adcon does

Adcon® Lab, Inc. is a privately held, San Jose–headquartered nano-materials and semiconductor consumables company founded in 1994 and incorporated in 1997. It develops and manufactures nanometer-scale colloidal cerium oxide slurries (NanoCeria®, 2nm–120nm), the CY18™ IC cleaning chemistry, and complementary nano-materials (NanoYAG, nano-diamond, nano-alumina, nano-silica), targeting Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP), precision optical finishing, and coatings. Its portfolio is anchored by an application-specific test-wafer design-house business (200mm and 300mm patterned, blanket, and substrate wafers) and extends into rare-earth oxide materials, residential/commercial photovoltaic systems (Adcon® Solar), and mining/materials processing consulting (Adcon® Mining).

The company's business model is direct, sales-led enterprise motion: quote-based pricing via dedicated business groups, multi-year contracts, and 24/7 contactability through email, phone, fax, and Skype/WeChat/Google Hangouts. Customer development is concentrated in the semiconductor industry across the US, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Korea, China, and Europe (300+ CMP contacts at 50+ IC manufacturers), with stated service to 25 multi-billion-dollar market-leader customers. Value-added services include CMP/metrology tool rental, deposition/CMP/cleaning/metrology engineering, and supplier-chain consulting, with manufacturing capacity stated at >10,000 lbs/year of NanoCeria® (scalable to 5x in under a year). Growth is technically anchored in CTO Raymond Jin's 28+ years of semiconductor/life-science experience and a 31% PhD-heavy team, and is monetized through consumables, equipment-related services, and PV system integration rather than software or recurring subscriptions.

Name

Adcon

Legal name

Adcon® Lab, Inc.

Website

https://adconlab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Adcon® Lab, Inc. is a privately held San Jose–based nano-materials and semiconductor consumables company that designs, manufactures, and sells NanoCeria® CMP slurries, CY18™ cleaning chemistry, application-specific test wafers, rare-earth oxides, and solar PV systems for global IC fabs and industrial customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Materials & CMP Consumables

NAICS

Paint, Coating, and Adhesive Manufacturing (3255), Paint and Coating Manufacturing (325510), Adhesive Manufacturing (32552), Adhesive Manufacturing (325520), Electroplating, Plating, Polishing, Anodizing, and Coloring (332813)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674), Electronic Coils, Transformers & Other Inductors (3677), Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels & Allied Prods (2851)

akta.pro primary industry

Deposition Equipment (CVD/PVD/ALD/Epitaxy) (HDAHAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Thin-Film Deposition Materials (PVD/CVD/ALD Targets & Precursors) (HDAHAGAH), Epitaxy Materials & Services (Epi Wafers/MBE/MOCVD) (HDAHAGAC)

Keywords

• Chemical mechanical planarization
• Semiconductor CMP slurries
• Nanoparticle abrasives
• Application-specific test wafers
• Rare earth oxide materials

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Adcon® NanoCeria® and CMP Abrasive Products: Sale of nanometer colloidal ceria slurries (aqueous and solvent) and powder forms for CMP and advanced polishing applications. Customized products sold to global semiconductor, optical, and hi-tech industry customers.
2. CY18™ Cleaning Solution Sales: Sale of trademarked IC manufacturing cleaning solution (CY18™) to IC fabs; volume-production proven, used during customer ramp-up processes to improve IC device yield.
3. Test Wafer Design, Manufacturing and Sales: Application-specific test wafer design house business — designs, manufactures, markets, sells, and services patterned, blanket film, and substrate wafers (200mm and 300mm) for CMP and cleaning applications. Includes short-loop, long-loop, and full-loop IC device wafers.
4. CMP/Metrology Tool Rental and Capital Planning/Utilization Services: Rental of CMP and metrology tools (including Mirra & Reflexion) along with related capital planning and utilization services offered through dedicated CMP/Metrology Tool Rental and Capital Planning and Utilization Service Business Group.
5. Wafer Deposition/CMP/Cleaning/Metrology Engineering Services: High-value-added engineering services for test wafers including deposition, CMP, cleaning, and metrology services for global semiconductor customers.
6. Adcon® Solar PV Systems and Components: As general contractor and integrator in renewable energy, designs, finances, and installs differentiated photovoltaic systems for residential and commercial projects; also offers BOS components such as multi-purpose and pass-through junction boxes, and life-style enhancing PV-roofed structures.
7. Rare Earth Materials Sales: Sale of rare earth oxide products (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium, europium, terbium, and others) in nanometer range powder/suspension forms as well as conventional larger-particle-size powders.
8. Other Nano-Materials Sales (NanoYAG, Nano-diamond, Nano-alumina, Nano-silica): Sale of other nanometer rare earth and non-rare-earth materials (NanoYAG, nano-diamond, nano-alumina, nano-silica) in suspension and powder forms for CMP, precision optics polishing, LED wafer substrate manufacturing, hard disk manufacturing, and coating applications.
9. Adcon® Mining & Materials Processing Consulting Services: Consulting services covering the entire supplier chain of Adcon® products from mining to advanced applications for strategic materials used in manufacturing Adcon® products.
10. CMP Consumable Products (Slurries, Polishing Pads, Diamond Conditioning Disks): Sale of CMP consumables (slurries, polishing pads, diamond conditioning disks) for STI, oxide, polysilicon, Cu/Low-k, W, noble metal, silicon substrate, and sapphire substrate polishing applications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Adcon manufactures and sells proprietary nanometer colloidal ceria (NanoCeria®) slurries, application-specific test wafers, CMP consumables (slurries, polishing pads, diamond conditioning disks), the CY18™ IC cleaning solution, and other nano-materials (NanoYAG, nano-diamond, nano-alumina, nano-silica) for semiconductor, optical, LED, and hard disk manufacturers. The company also supplies rare earth oxide materials in nanometer and conventional particle forms, designs and installs residential and commercial photovoltaic systems under Adcon® Solar, and offers mining/materials processing consulting across the supplier chain.

Product overview

Adcon operates a multi-product portfolio rather than a single unified product, organized around advanced materials, CMP/cleaning consumables, and renewable energy systems with vertically integrated supply-chain consulting. The core CMP/cleaning line is anchored by Adcon NanoCeria (nanometer colloidal ceria abrasives for planarization and surface finishing), supported by CY18 cleaning solution and other nano-materials (NanoYAG, nano-diamond, nano-alumina, nano-silica). These consumables are paired with the Adcon Wafers business, which supplies application-specific test wafers (Cu/low-k, STI, W, PMD/ILD, polysilicon, blanket films, Si and sapphire substrates) for CMP and cleaning R&D. Adcon Rare Earth Materials extends the nano-material franchise into cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium, europium, and terbium oxides in both nanometer and conventional forms. The Adcon Solar business delivers photovoltaic systems and BOS components (including multi-purpose and pass-through junction boxes) for residential and commercial projects, while the Adcon Mining & Materials Processing & Purification service offering provides consulting across the supplier chain that feeds the company's strategic materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NanoCeria®: Registered trademark of Adcon® Lab, Inc. for a family of advanced abrasive products designed for CMP, advanced polishing, and other applications, including nanometer colloidal ceria suspension (both aqueous and solvent) products and their powder derivatives; particle sizes range from 2 nm to 120 nm.
• CY18™
• NanoYAG
• Adcon® Nano-diamond

Products and services

• Adcon NanoCeria Family of nanometer colloidal ceria suspension products (aqueous and solvent) and powder derivatives with controlled shapes, customer-specified solid content, pH, chemistry, size, and size distribution (2nm to 120nm). Designed for Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) and precision surface finishing in IC, optical, LED, hard disk, and other hi-tech industries.
• CY18 IC Manufacturing Cleaning Solution Trademarked IC manufacturing cleaning solution that has been used in volume production at IC device manufacturing fabs and is credited with improving customer IC device yield by more than 30% during ramp-up processes.
• Adcon Other Nano-Materials (NanoYAG, Nano-Diamond, Nano-Alumina, Nano-Silica) Portfolio of nanometer materials supplied in colloidal suspension or powder form. NanoYAG (Y3Al5O12) is used to coat aluminum/alumina/alloy surfaces in microelectronics; nano-diamond is used in manufacturing premium-quality LED wafer substrates (including sapphire) and computer hard disks; nano-alumina and nano-silica are used for CMP and precision optics polishing.
• Adcon Application-Specific Test Wafers Standard and customer-specific patterned, blanket film, and substrate wafers (200mm and 300mm) for CMP and cleaning product R&D. Includes Cu patterned wafers with oxide or low-k dielectrics (Black Diamond, Coral, FSG), STI, W, PMD/ILD, polysilicon/amorphous Si patterned wafers, post plasma-etch/ash wafers, blanket film stacks, Si and sapphire substrates. Sold directly by Adcon as a design house, not a broker.
• Adcon CMP Consumables (Slurries, Polishing Pads, Diamond Conditioning Disks) CMP consumables portfolio including CMP slurries, polishing pads, and diamond conditioning disks, targeting STI, oxide (ILD/PMD), polysilicon, Cu/Low-k, W, noble metal, silicon substrate, and sapphire substrate polishing applications. Also includes access to CMP equipment, metrology tools, clean room facilities, and CMP professionals.
• CMP/Metrology Tool Rental and Capital Planning/Utilization Services Rental of CMP and metrology tools (including Mirra and Reflexion) and related capital planning and utilization services offered through a dedicated business group for global semiconductor customers.
• Adcon Rare Earth Materials Nanometer-range rare earth oxide products (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium, europium, terbium oxides and custom compounds/mixtures) in particle sizes from 2nm to 120nm in powder, paste, aqueous slurry, or solvent suspension form, plus conventional larger-particle rare earth oxides and compounds.
• Adcon Solar PV Systems and Components Design, financing, and installation of value-added differentiated photovoltaic systems for residential and commercial projects, including lifestyle-enhancing detached and attached PV-roofed structures and Balance of System (BOS) components such as multi-purpose and pass-through junction boxes.
• Adcon Mining & Materials Processing & Purification Consulting Consulting services covering the supplier chain of Adcon products from mining to advanced applications for the strategic materials used in manufacturing Adcon offerings, including materials processing and purification support.

Quantifiable outcome

• $25/wafer IC device manufacturing cost reduction enabled by Adcon® NanoCeria® for direct STI polish (vs reverse mask etch process integration)
• +4 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• DuPontcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint technical collaboration evidenced by a co-presented paper at the 8th Annual International CMP Conference on NanoCeria (8th Annual International CMP Conference_NanoCeria_DuPont & Adcon Lab Inc Paper; 8th Annual International CMP Conference_NanoCeria_DuPont presentation). Indicates shared R&D and joint technical marketing for NanoCeria® products.
• Adcon® Solar partner (unnamed)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdcon® Solar along with its partner designs, finances, and installs value-added and differentiated photovoltaic systems for residential and commercial projects; partner also co-supplies the BOS (Balance of System) for PV power systems. Partner is not explicitly named in the source material.
• Multi-billion-dollar leading IC fab organization (unnamed)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with several IC fabs including a multi-billion-dollar leading IC fab organization in semiconductor manufacturing. Through these partnerships Adcon® Lab designs, manufactures, markets, sells, and services test wafer products.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Solargise / SunPower (residential solar peer set): Residential and commercial solar PV installer and system integrator. Comparable to Adcon's Adcon Solar general contractor/integrator business, though SunPower operates at significantly larger scale in the U.S. residential and commercial market.

Broad incumbents

• Applied Materials: Dominant CMP equipment vendor and integrated consumables supplier, where Adcon's CTO previously grew CMP revenue from $80M to $500M. Broad incumbent rather than direct slurry specialist, but the central competitor Adcon must coexist with inside customer fabs.
• Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning: Manufacturer of CMP polishing pads and abrasive solutions, plus broader surface finishing and engineered materials. Comparable to Adcon's CMP consumable portfolio (slurries, pads, diamond conditioning disks) and rare earth/nano-materials offering.
• JX Nippon Mining & Metals: Large Japanese non-ferrous metals and rare earth/refined materials supplier with semiconductor materials exposure. Comparable to Adcon's rare earth oxide product line and integrated mining-to-application supply chain.

Direct peers

• Hitachi Chemical (now Resonac): Supplier of CMP slurries, polishing pads, and semiconductor materials. Direct overlap with Adcon's CMP consumable and rare earth/ceria slurry offerings serving the same fab customers.
• Fujimi Incorporated: Japanese specialty manufacturer of CMP slurries (notably colloidal silica and ceria) and precision polishing materials. Direct competitor in the same NanoCeria/colloidal ceria slurry category Adcon targets.
• CMC Materials (now part of Entegris): Global leader in CMP slurries and polishing pads for semiconductor wafers. Directly comparable to Adcon's NanoCeria slurry, CMP/cleaning consumable, and rare earth product lines, serving the same IC fab customers.
• Versum Materials (now EMD Electronics / Merck KGaA): Major supplier of CMP slurries, cleaning chemistries, and deposition materials to the semiconductor industry. Comparable to Adcon across CMP consumables, CY18-style cleaning solutions, and advanced node materials.
• DuPont Electronics & Industrial: DuPont has an established CMP consumables and polishing pad business and was Adcon's named co-development and joint conference partner on NanoCeria. Comparable across CMP slurries, pads, and rare/advanced materials for IC manufacturing.

Emerging players

• Cabot Corporation (Performance Chemicals): Specialty chemicals producer with fumed metal oxides and colloidal dispersions relevant to CMP slurries, polishing, and rare earth applications. Comparable to Adcon's NanoCeria, nano-alumina, and nano-silica product families.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/adcon-lab-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Adcon