Soitec buys selected assets of Picogiga
Soitec paid the sum of 2.3 million Euros ($2.5 million) for the assets; although the company has not spelled out exactly what these assets are, they are likely to include some or all of Picogiga s MBE growth systems.
Some thirty experienced engineers and technicians will join Soitec from Picogiga. Soitec says that the transfer will allow these personnel to "work in a structure that is better suited to the current market for composite semiconductor epitaxy." The skills of this team will strengthen those of Soitec, as epitaxy is a technology particularly complementary to the technology of layer transfer.
"This purchase of some of Picogiga s assets represents an excellent opportunity for us to strengthen our position as the leading manufacturer of advanced materials," said Jean-Michel Lamure, Soitec s managing director. "It will enable us to speed up the development of advanced materials to meet application needs for high-frequency devices (for telecoms, local networks, anti-collision radar and surveillance systems) and optoelectronics (detection and display systems, LEDs and lasers).”
Soitec manufactures SOI wafers using its SmartCut process, which transfers ultra-thin silicon layers from a handle wafer to another surface. During SOI wafer manufacturing using the Smart Cut process, a silicon wafer is oxidized, implanted with hydrogen ions and bonded to a second Si wafer. The wafers are then separated along the cleavage plane formed by the implanted ion, leaving an SOI substrate and a reusable Si wafer.
Smart Cut technology can also be extended to other materials including silicon carbide, silicon germanium and sapphire, as well as III-V materials, and the development of such processes is now well under way.
