Created in 1992 by two researchers, André Auberton-Hervé and Jean-Michel Lamure from CEA-Léti (one of Europe’s largest microelectronics research institutes) located in Grenoble, France. Soitec is an example of a successful move from fundamental research in the heart of a laboratory dedicated to nanotechnologies to worldwide industrial leadership in an innovative and highly competitive domaine.
Soitec exploits and develops an exclusive technological process: Smart Cut™, invented by Michel Bruel at CEA-Léti. The Smart Cut process is protected by a portfolio of around 1000 patents. A veritable atomic scalpel, Smart Cut enables the transfer of very fine layers of crystalline material onto a mechanical support.
The application of this technological procedure is used today mainly in SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator). An ultra-thin silicon film is transferred to a mechanical support, thereby introducing a intermediate, insulating layer. SOI offers two major advantages: it considerably increases the speed of microprocessors built on it and cuts by three or four times the power that these microprocessors consume.
The technological advances Soitec offers enable its clients to anticipate the mass-market electronics of tomorrow.
Who are our clients? Twenty of the most important semiconductor players worldwide, some of whom have made joint announcements with Soitec: AMD, Freescale Semiconductor, Mitsubishi Electric, OKI, IBM Microelectronics, Philips Semiconductors, Sony, Toshiba, and more. They have chosen to develop their major market applications—servers, PCs, watches, automotive sensors, game consoles, HTDV televisions, and so forth — on Soitec™ products.