SOI, A Long Road to an Overnight Success

Silicon on Insulator (SOI) began as a material for niche markets but has gained considerable attention and traction because of its technology benefits driving product market penetration. This resulted in an excess of 100% growth of SOI wafer demand in 2006 compared to the SOI wafers used in 2005.

What’s driving this growth? SOI is being deployed in products that require increased switching speed and lower power operations. These products include MPUs in high-speed network servers and other performance driven applications. One market segment that has seen broad adoption of SOI chips is the game console market. All three leading game console manufacturers (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) have designed in SOI-based processors.

Semico forecasts SOI wafers sales to increase 40% in 2007. “As 45nm technology enters mainstream manufacturing and 32nm is introduced in the 2010 timeframe, we expect even greater SOI wafer demand for high performance applications,” said Joanne Itow, Managing Director – Manufacturing at Semico Research Corporation. “This will drive SOI to even higher levels beyond 2011. However the availability of quality SOI wafers and the alternative solutions that may be discovered for processing products at 45nm and below will play a critical cost/volume point which triggers economic feasibility of technologies.”

The Semico SOI analysis and forecast methodology is perhaps the most complete and accurate model in the market. The SOI wafer forecast is based on specific SOI data collected along with the Semico Wafer Demand Model which analyzes semiconductor products by manufacturing technology, die size, yields and costs.

This comprehensive report includes analysis of the following areas:

· Silicon on Insulator (SOI) Technology

· Review of SOI Usage by Company

· SOI Wafer Suppliers

· SOI Equipment Vendors & Support Services

· Future Outlook and Forecast

The report is available for immediate delivery for $3,500. To purchase, please contact Susan Cadel at 607-368-7600 or susanc@semico.com, and reference report MA106-07, SOI: A Long Road to an Overnight Success.