Tech & Innovation : Soitec

A FRENCH ELECTRONICS RESEARCH LABORATORY AND SOITEC PRODUCE A WORLD LEADING TECHNOLOGY FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

An ecosystem combining a state-owned research laboratory and SOITEC is propelling France as a world leader in high performance semiconductor materials. The Grenoble laboratory called LETI (Laboratoire d’électronique des technologies de l’information) is a research institute for micro- and nano-technologies created by the French Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA). France’s SOITEC is a world leader in developing and manufacturing innovative semiconductor materials.

With the help of LETI, SOITEC has managed to make its RF-SOI (Radio-frequency silicon-on-insulator) material a world standard for semiconductors in 3G and 4G smartphones. SOITEC has also been ramping up this technology for use in 5G as well. It now seems in a position to do the same with its FD-SOI (Fully depleted silicon on insulator) technology and therefore outperform US’s INTEL in the fast developing connected cars and Internet of Things (IoT) industries.

Two successes have pushed SOITEC’s technology to a world leading position. First in 2014 Samsung signed a foundry and license agreement to use the FD-SOI technology to produce 28 nano-meters integrated circuits for mobile phones. Then in 2015, GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor foundry headquartered in Sata Clara, California, announced the setting up of a technological platform for producing 22 nanometers chips using SOITEC’s FD-SOI technology.

With the success of its technologies, SOITEC, which is listed on the Euronext Paris stock Exchange, expects to double its present revenue of €240 million in the next three years.

Sources : electronicsweekly.com, ft.com, lesechos.fr, lemonde.fr  

Video Links : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSV1mkwOdmE

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcb57dCpE7E