II-V, a leading producer of optical technology, has awarded a $410 million funding from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund. With 700 jobs in Sherman, Texas, Warren, New Jersey, Easton, Pennsylvania, and Champaign, Illinois, the company’s long-standing partnership with II-VI will be expanded to build additional flexibility and improve the delivery of potential iPhone parts.

Face ID, Memoji, Animoji, and Portrait mode selfies are all powered by II-VI vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Apple also collaborates with II-VI on the development of lasers for the LiDAR Scanner, a technology that enables quicker, more realistic augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus in low-light photos and videos.

Apple began working with II-VI in Sherman, Texas, in 2017 as part of the company’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which helped transform a long-shuttered, 700,000-square-foot building into a high-tech manufacturing facility and created hundreds of local jobs. Through close collaboration with Apple’s engineering and operations teams, the company has rapidly increased production in the past year to enable record shipments from the Sherman facility.

“We established Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund to support American businesses creating next-generation technology and the jobs of tomorrow,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “II-VI shares our commitment to push the boundaries of innovation and we’re proud to be extending our work together across the country.”

“The partnership between Apple and II-VI sets the stage for a new wave of breakthrough technologies that we believe will enable a wide range of applications that will benefit our world for decades to come,” said Dr. Vincent Mattera Jr., II-VI’s CEO. “We are incredibly grateful for Apple’s support which has allowed us to expand our manufacturing capacity and scale our operations across the US.”

II-VI is a part of Apple’s Clean Energy Program, which was designed to advance the use of renewable energy across the company’s supply chain, and is already using 100 percent renewable energy across all of its Apple manufacturing in the US.

Apple’s expanded partnership with II-VI is part of the company’s plans to invest $430 billion and add 20,000 new jobs across the US over the next five years. Apple’s contributions include working with more than 9,000 suppliers across the country who are supporting American job creation across dozens of sectors, including silicon engineering, 5G, and manufacturing.

To support world-class innovation and high-skilled manufacturing jobs across the US, Apple established its Advanced Manufacturing Fund in 2017. The $5 billion funds have supported a number of projects to date, including $450 million in awards to Corning Incorporated in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, which led to the creation of Ceramic Shield, a new material that’s tougher than any other smartphone glass.

Apple supports 2.7 million jobs across all 50 states through direct employment, spending with US suppliers and manufacturers, and the iOS app economy.

Source: Apple