New SOI-based applications

Since the end of the 80's, SOI developments in general have raised an increased interest due to the material's commercial availability. The SIMOX technique (Separation by IMplanted OXygen) was the first to provide ultra thin silicon monocrystalline film on top of silicon dioxide as an industrial product and is leading in the SOI industrial developments. The new developments in oxygen ion implantation have pushed the limit of the SIMOX technology to the thinnest insulating layer commercially available. The standard insulating layer was until today 400 nm. The new product we have developed named "low dose product", has a buried oxide layer as thin as 80 nm. The silicon layer on top can be adjusted down to 50 nm thereby providing the thinnest combination of SOI layers. The applications of such thin films are in the field of low voltage products. The battery operated ICs for portable systems and ULSI CMOS logic ICs with gate length below 0.2 /spl mu/m are expected to be the two major applications of this new material. The speed improvement of SOI ICs compared to standard silicon technologies is better than a factor of two for low voltage with a lower power consumption. Additional advantages of using SOI is the higher packing density and a simplified process compared to standard technologies. Other applications include: MMICs, BiCMOS, optoelectronics, and smart power.<>