Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, announced it has more than doubled production of bonded silicon-on-sapphire (BSOS) substrates to meet increased demand from its strategic partner, Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: PSMI). Peregrine Semiconductor, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), has increased peak-production capability of its latest-generation STeP5 UltraCMOS® technology-based RF switches to more than two million units a day, to support design wins in the Radio Frequency Front Ends (RFFEs) of today’s most advanced 4G smart phones, and other wirelesscommunication applications. These wins established Peregrine Semiconductor as the market leader 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 Semiconductor’s highly-tuned semiconductor wafers. The combination of Soitec’s innovative substrate, and Peregrine Semiconductor’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,” said 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,” said 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.”