Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation is the largest producer of polysilicon in the United States. It is owned by Corning Inc. and Shin-Etsu Handotai, founded in 1961, and named after Hemlock, Michigan, the location of its factory. Its current facilities produce some 36,000 tons of polycrystalline silicon, ranking it among the top five producers worldwide. Polycrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, is a high purity, polycrystalline form of silicon, used as a raw material by the solar photovoltaic and electronics industry.