News & Events
Company Updates, Exhibits, and More
Bozeman, MT – April 6, 2021 – While in Bozeman, MT today Senator Jon Tester visited Lattice Materials to see how components made of materials critical to our national security are manufactured into key sensor elements for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and other military vehicles. During his tour of their 30,000 ft2 facility near downtown Bozeman, he witnessed both silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) optical crystal ‘growth’ in specialized ovens called Czochralski pullers. Lattice Materials is the only US grower of large diameter optical Si and Ge, which are key materials used in infrared sensors enabling US military superiority.
“Lattice Materials is a one-of-a-kind company that’s working to provide our service members and allies with the advanced technology they need to defend our country,” said Tester. “It was an honor to tour this Montana made facility to learn more about how they grow state-of-the-art silicon and germanium that is being used every day to keep American families safe.”
A noteworthy moment during the visit, Senator Tester met Lance Falkenstein, a crystal growth engineer and US Air Force veteran. Falkenstein has worked at Lattice Materials for 13 years and operates several pullers in their newly expanded growth facility. The Senator is the Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and chairs the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee.
“We were very excited to host Senator Tester’s visit to showcase Lattice Materials’ capabilities along with our company’s importance to both the local Montana economy as well as our nation’s defense efforts”, said Jessica Higgins, President of Lattice Materials.
At the end of the facility tour, Senator Tester and accompanying staff were presented with personally-engraved silicon crystal ‘seeds’ typical of those manufactured and used at Lattice Materials for growing crystals.
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Lattice Materials is the largest grower of optical silicon and germanium in the USA, and produces infrared optics, thin film coating sources and custom machined parts to extremely precise tolerances. Lattice Materials’ manufacturing capabilities include machining of optical blanks, precision optical curve generation, high-precision polishing, and more. Founded in 1989 and located in Bozeman, MT, they have been the supplier of choice for top defense contractors, Tier 1 automotive suppliers, optical integrators, national laboratories, and semiconductor fabricators.
Lattice Materials, Key Supplier For The World’s Most Advanced Fighter Jet
Workers at nearly 1,900 suppliers are overcoming the unimaginable challenges of 2020 to build the world’s most advanced fighter jet, the F-35.
Lattice Materials is proud to be a critical supplier of custom in-house grown, machined and polished silicon windows to Lockheed Martin for the Distributed Aperture System (DAS). We have risen to the challenge and helped Lockheed achieve its key milestone of 5,000 delivered windows to the program. Lattice Materials is the primary supplier of silicon blanks for these DAS windows and has been for well over a decade. We are honored to play a role in this innovative step forward.
Learn more about the program HERE
Lattice Materials Announces Jessica Higgins as President
Bozeman, MT – July 27, 2020 – Lattice Materials, LLC is pleased to announce the appointment of Jessica Higgins to the role of President by the Company’s Board of Directors. In her more than 15-year tenure at the company, Higgins has previously held the positions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and VP of Human Resources, among others. She also previously held roles as Corporate Controller for BBd Affiliated, LLC (the owner of Lattice Materials) and PRE Diversified, LLC, both located in San Jose, California under the umbrella of The Partner Companies (TPC). While in this role, Higgins advised and mentored all eight management teams under TPC in financial and operational areas.
Higgins brings a wealth of financial and operations management experience along with strong business development capabilities to lead Lattice Materials on its continued growth trajectory.
“I’m excited and proud to lead this exceptional team of employees by providing 100% American made Silicon and Germanium products to our Defense and Commercial industry Partners.”
Prior to starting at Lattice Materials, Higgins worked as a controller for a start-up and as a staff accountant at Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, and Stevens (JCCS), specializing in audits of for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental agencies, as well as tax preparation.
Originally from Choteau, MT, Higgins has been an ardent Montana resident all her life. She graduated from Montana State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business with an accounting option, and then a Master’s degree in professional accountancy.
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Lattice Materials is the largest grower of optical silicon and germanium in the USA, and produces infrared optics, thin film coating sources and custom machined parts to extremely precise tolerances. Lattice Materials’ manufacturing capabilities include machining of optical blanks, precision optical curve generation, high-precision polishing, and more. Founded in 1989 and located in Bozeman, MT, they have been the supplier of choice for top defense contractors, Tier 1 automotive suppliers, optical integrators, national laboratories, and semiconductor fabricators.