RF SOI wafers from Soitec receive mainstream attention

Soitec recently announced that its silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technologies are now mainstream for manufacturing switches and antenna-tuners, key RF components used in all cell phones and tablet computers.

The company's engineered substrates enable chip manufacturers to integrate various functions on the same die, bringing down the overall system cost. An RF SOI substrate features an active layer where CMOS transistors are built, isolated from a high-resistivity silicon base layer. This reduces noise and interference while helping the finished die reach its target performance in terms of signal integrity, handling RF power and integration density. SOI technologies enable devices to reach a figure of merit for on-series resistance and off-equivalent capacitance (R_on.C_off) below 200fs with potential for further reduction. This directly relates to improved device performance and smaller die size.

With the strength of recent demonstrations, power amplifiers will likely be the next RF components based on SOI. The technology enables highly tunable amplifiers to address multi-region requirements on a single platform. In addition, Soitec's RF SOI substrates offer a path towards further integration, such as more mixed-signal and digital content.

Soitec's broad offerings allow RF device manufacturers to select an engineered substrate that aligns best with their market strategies—from low-cost GSM handsets to multi-band, multi-mode LTE smartphones and tablets.