Cree, Inc. is an American worldwide manufacturer and marketer of lighting-class LEDs, lighting products and products for power and radio frequency (RF) applications. Most of its products are based on silicon carbide (SiC), a rare, naturally occurring mineral compound which early Cree researchers successfully synthesized in a laboratory. SiC enables higher performance in applications which require high endurance and in semiconductor devices that operate at high temperatures or high voltages, or both. With the establishment of a reliable source for high-quality SiC, the firm expanded into several market segments with products that provided significantly higher performance and efficiency. Cree's product families include LED lighting systems and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, and a portfolio of SiC-based and wide bandgap SiC-on-GaN (gallium nitride) power-switching and RF (radio frequency) devices. These products enable applications that include general illumination, electronic signs and signals, industrial power supplies and inverters, and military, satellite and broadband telecommunications.