R&D: Inventing breakthrough technologies that deliver competitive advantage
At Soitec, the purpose of our R&D program is to help find solutions to one of society’s greatest challenges: energy.
We have set two priority objectives for our technologies: improving performance and reducing energy consumption.
Our R&D program focuses on four major technologies: continuing to reduce the size of transistors and integrated circuits (More Moore), adding new functions to circuits (More than Moore), engineering III-V composite materials, and exploring systems and cells for concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology.
More Moore
To meet the challenges of continuing to miniaturize systems for sub-20 nm nodes, we develop SOI materials with an ultra-thin active silicon layer (10 nm), an ultra-thin oxide layer, and solutions such as crystalline orientation and constrained silicon for enhanced electrical mobility.
More than Moore
To build more features into circuits and to manage their growing complexity, we develop engineered substrates, circuit layer transfer processes on heterostructures such as quartz and glass, as well as etched wafer stacking processes.
III-V materials engineering
We use technologies such as Smart Cut™ and epitaxy in conjunction with materials like gallium nitride (GaN) to create innovative semiconductor materials for lighting and power electronics applications.
CPV solar cells and systems
Our R&D also concentrates on developing new solar cell capabilities using multiple-material layers and perfecting CPV systems through improved concentration of solar radiation and more accurate tracking. These techniques could raise the total yield of CPV systems to 37% from the current state of the art of 27%.