US based Sematech has announced that Soitec, a company specialising in the manufacture of semiconductor substrates for energy and electronics industries is joining its Front End Processes (FEP) and Advanced Metrology Programs.
Through the partnership, both companies will develop advanced processes and devices using silicon-on- insulated (SOI) wafer technology and other wafer technologies from Soitec. The partnership will also look at applying the metrology expertise owned by Sematech to be applied on providing better transistor designs.
SOI wafers are predominantly used in developing semiconductor devices for automotive electronics, computing and telecommunication. SOI offers better device performance, faster switching speeds and lesser power consumption as compared to bulk silicon. SOI also helps in reducing manufacturing costs through a simplified process.
Soitec is a member of the Metrology and FEP division of Sematech which is located at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany. Through this partnership, Soitec will use the expertise of Sematech in metrology and will also make use of Sematech’s activities in process technology, creation of devices and materials. To be more specific, both companies plan to develop films and dimensional metrology on SOI wafers from Soitec.