Corning, New York–Corning Inc. today announced that it will invest more than $30 million in 2001 to expand production of fluoride crystals in its Canton, NY manufacturing facility. This investment is expected to allow the company to more than double its capacity in fluoride crystals, which are used to make optical microlithography lenses.

Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by late 2001. It is anticipated that additional investments will be made to further expand capabilities in subsequent years.

The Canton facility is already involved in the semiconductor market through production of high quality HPFS material for microlithography equipment. By expanding into this next generation of material, the company believes that it is positioning the Canton Plant for success well into the next decade.

This expansion announcement follows two other important investments made by Corning in its semiconductor business over the past year: the acquisition of Optovac, in North Brookfield, MA in December 1999 for fluoride crystal manufacturing and the capacity expansion of that facility in mid-2000.