MEDIA RELEASE PR38769
Soitec Supplying SOI Substrates to CSMC for Display and Other Applications
BERNIN, Mar. 18 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
- Cites High Interest and Support in China for SOI Projects
The Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), the world's leading supplier of
engineered substrates for the microelectronics industry, announced today that
the company has entered into an agreement to supply silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) substrates to CSMC Technologies Corporation ("CSMC"), a leading
pure-play specialty analog foundry based in China. Soitec is sampling SOI
substrates for High Voltage (HV) and CMOS applications initially aimed at
color plasma display panel (PDP) driver integrated circuits (ICs) and other
mixed signal and analog applications. The company is seeing high levels of
interest and support in China for SOI projects.
SOI is a cost-optimized technology increasing device performance and
reliability, while lowering power consumption. These advantages are an
excellent complement to consumer electronics markets, as well as continued
expansion into worldwide markets for automotive, RF/wireless, high-voltage,
power management, photonics, imaging, lighting and more.
"With this agreement, CSMC will use Soitec's wafers on several major SOI
projects for High Voltage and CMOS technology. We believe the partnership
with Soitec will help us to provide a more cost-effective solution to our
customers," said Filian Wu, VP of Analog Process Technology Development
Center.
"As the world's leader in SOI substrates, we are very pleased to
collaborate with CSMC and will support their plans to ramp up SOI based
products," said Paul Boudre, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Soitec
Group. "Over the last two years, we have experienced a strong acceleration of
interest in SOI substrates in China mainly by the majority of the largest
local foundries and institutes. Today these development projects are moving
to first production ramp up and we expect a significant growth of SOI based
products in China in the coming years."
CSMC is a leading pure-play specialty analog foundry in China providing
fabless design houses and integrated device manufacturers with a wide range
of manufacturing services. The company manufactures ICs and power discrete
processes at production technology nodes ranging from 0.13 micron to 0.5
micron. CSMC ICs and power devices are utilized in a broad range of end
market applications including consumer electronics, communications devices,
personal computers and more.
Designers of chips for leading analog and mixed signal applications are
increasingly choosing SOI in large part because it dielectrically isolates
all the transistor devices from each other, thereby eliminating the danger of
chip-killing "latch-up". It also minimizes current leakage, thereby saving
energy at high operating temperatures. And, it enables very compact design,
taking 40% less space than traditional pn-isolation technologies. For digital
CMOS applications, SOI increases performance by up to 30% and decreases power
consumption by up to 50%.
At Semicon China, March 16-18 in Shanghai, visit Soitec in booth #3755 in
Hall W3.
About the Soitec Group:
The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the
engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today's most
advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart
Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as
silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, which became the first high-volume
application for this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as
the material platform of the future, enabling the production of higher
performing, faster chips that consume less power.
Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world's SOI wafers.
Headquartered in Bernin, France, with two high-volume fabs on-site, Soitec
has offices throughout the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and a new
production site in Singapore.
Three other divisions, Picogiga International, Tracit Technologies and
Concentrix Solar, complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga delivers advanced
substrates solutions, including III-V epiwafers and gallium nitride (GaN)
wafers, to the compound material world for the manufacture of high-frequency
electronics and other optoelectronic devices. Tracit, on the other hand,
provides thin-film layer transfer technologies used to manufacture advanced
substrates for power ICs and Microsystems, as well as generic circuit
transfer technology, Smart Stacking(TM) for applications such as image
sensors and 3D-integration. In December 2009, Soitec acquired 80% of
Concentrix Solar, the leading provider of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV)
solar systems for the industrial production of energy. With this acquisition,
Soitec is entering the fast-growing solar industry; capturing value through
the system level. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris.
Soitec, Smart Cut, Smart Stacking and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC
Silicon On Insulator Technologies.
International Media Contact
Camille Darnaud-Dufour
+33(0)6-79-49-51-43
camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.fr
Investor Relations Contact
Olivier Brice
+33(0)4-76-92-93-80
olivier.brice@soitec.fr
French Media Contact
Muriel Martin, H&B
+33(0)1-58-18-32-44
m.martin@hbcommunication.fr
SOURCE: Soitec
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