Rubicon Technology, Inc.
A maker of synthetic sapphire crystals grown in giant single blocks, Rubicon Technology produces sapphire wafers and optical windows used in LED lighting, smartphone screens, and precision optics. It began in 1995 near Chicago as S&R Rubicon, a small importer of sapphire and ruby, before founder Radion Mogilevsky switched to growing the crystals himself using the Kyropoulos method. The name nods to the Rubicon River—the point of no return—fitting for a company that became one of the few to grow sapphire boules large enough for twelve-inch wafers.