Natcore Technology to Form Chinese Joint Venture for AR Film Growth Equipment and Materials

Vancouver-based Natcore Technology Inc. and a Chinese consortium have signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture company to develop and manufacture film-growth equipment and materials using Natcore’s proprietary liquid phase deposition (LPD) technology. The Chinese partners are the Zhuzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and two firms, including a polysilicon producer and an industrial equipment manufacturer. The joint venture, Natcore China, will be 55%-owned by Natcore and 45%-owned by the Chinese partners. It will be funded by an initial US$3 million investment consisting of $500,000 from Natcore and US$2.5 million from the Chinese consortium. Natcore China will have exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell anti-reflective film growth equipment in China, and a three-year exclusive right to manufacture such equipment for sale outside of China. Natcore Technology is the exclusive licencee, from Rice University, of a thin-film growth technology enabling room-temperature growth of various silicon oxides on silicon wafers in a LPD process.