Soitec boosts bonded SOS wafer manufacturing for Peregrine
Soitec has more than doubled production of bonded silicon-on-sapphire (BSOS) substrates to meet increased demand from its strategic partner, Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation (Peregrine) .
Peregrine Semiconductor is a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). The company has increased peak-production capability of its latest-generation STeP5 UltraCMOS technology-based RF switches to more than two million units a day.
This is to support design wins in the Radio Frequency Front Ends (RFFEs) of today's most advanced 4G smart phones, and other wireless-communication applications. These wins have established Peregrine Semiconductor as one of the market leaders for the main RF antenna switch for cellular handsets.
Soitec's direct wafer-bonding technologies are used to produce the BSOS substrate employed in the manufacture of Peregrine's highly-tuned semiconductor wafers.
The combination of Soitec's innovative substrate, and Peregrine's UltraCMOS process technology, and IC design expertise, enable high-performance RFICs for a variety of applications.
"We are experiencing powerful traction in the market with the latest STeP5 UltraCMOS RF switches, and we believe these products enable the high level of RF performance that is critical for new, 4G LTE smartphones and wireless devices," says Mark Miscione, vice president of RF Technology Solutions for Peregrine Semiconductor.
"Soitec's expertise has been important in the development of a substrate technology that offers the reliability, yield, and process scalability of equivalent bulk CMOS technologies. We are pleased with the continued commitment and support we receive."
"As a result of supporting Peregrine Semiconductor's continued strong growth, we have reached a new level in high-volume manufacturing for our bonded-SOS product," continues Bernard Aspar, vice president of Soitec's Layer Transfer Solutions Business Unit. "Bonded SOS is part of our strategy to deliver leading-edge engineered substrates for mobile electronic-device markets."
