Soitec Breaks Ground on Singapore Fab

Staff Reporter -- Electronic News, 8/28/2006

Bernin, France-based silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer manufacturer Soitec reported today that is has broken ground on its new 300mm wafer fab in Singapore, and will invest $447.6 million (350 million).

A groundbreaking ceremony in Singapore's new Pasir Wafer Fab Park marked the start of construction at the company's newest production facility designated Fab 3, which is expected to start supplying SOI wafers in mid-2008, as it ramps to a final production capacity of one million wafers per year.

Soitec said Fab 3 is its first fab in Asia, and is a critical part of the company’s strategic investment plan to expand worldwide production capacity, enhance ongoing R&D, and forge closer relationships with customers.

Construction of Fab 3 will leverage Soitec's engineered substrate production knowledge; it obtained from years of manufacturing experience. 

The fab will also contain complete mini-environments to reduce wafer contamination risk and increase yields, the company noted.

When completed, the company expects it to employ approximately 500 people inside the facility.

Soitec is also currently expanding the production capacity of its Bernin II Fab in France.

Ongoing capacity expansion efforts are believed to help open the door to a greater number of integrated device manufacturers, foundries and fabless companies planning to tap SOI technology.

Soitec president and CEO, Andre-Jacques Auberton-Herve commented in a statement, “The performance and power-usage benefits associated with SOI are enabling a growing number of advanced electronic devices, especially leading-edge consumer digital products that are increasingly manufactured in Asia.”

“With its strategic location in the heart of Asia, this new fab will help us develop even closer working relationships with our growing customer base in the region while also giving us access to the world-class business environment and talented workforce we were seeking in selecting the location of our third production facility,” he concluded.