Tempe, Arizona – September 19, 2026 -- Lawrence Semiconductor Research Laboratory has appointed Don Garrison, a 25-year semiconductor manufacturing veteran, to lead operations as the company moves to scale capacity at its Tempe, Arizona epitaxy foundry.
Garrison joins from Littelfuse, where he ran manufacturing across eight global sites
Garrison most recently served as Vice President of Global Operations for the Semiconductor Business Unit at Littelfuse, directing manufacturing, engineering and supply chain across eight fabrication, assembly and test sites and an organization exceeding 2,500 employees. He previously held the Director of Fab Operations role at NXP Semiconductors in Chandler, Arizona, led manufacturing excellence initiatives during a high-growth factory startup at GlobalFoundries, and spent more than a decade at Intel Corporation in technical and manufacturing positions.
Lawrence holds a near-monopoly on two advanced epitaxial materials in the U.S.
Lawrence is the only merchant source in the United States for production germanium-tin (GeSn) and isotopically enriched silicon-28 epitaxy, and one of very few suppliers globally. The company's portfolio also covers specialized silicon, germanium and silicon-germanium (SiGe) epitaxial layers used in photonics, infrared sensing, quantum computing and defense-grade devices.
Fourteen reactors run continuously inside a Class 100 cleanroom
Production takes place in a Class 100 cleanroom in Tempe equipped with 14 epitaxial reactors operating around the clock. Lawrence holds ISO 9001:2015 certification and Department of Defense Joint Certification Program status, and is implementing IATF 16949 to support automotive and high-reliability production programs.
CEO cites Garrison's rare combination of scale and epitaxy expertise
"Don has run semiconductor manufacturing at far larger scale, and he has run epitaxy, which is rare," said Ali Torabi, chief executive officer of Lawrence Semiconductor. "With him leading operations, we can invest in capacity with confidence and scale to meet the industry's rapidly growing need for specialty foundry services." Garrison, who has led epitaxial deposition operations directly at multiple companies, described the process as "one of the most unforgiving processes in semiconductor manufacturing," noting Lawrence has performed it for more than 30 years.