Soitec invests in inspection technology from KLA
Soitec has selected KLA Corporation to enable "high yield manufacturing" of Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices for the automotive industry.
Based on its track record of using KLA’s inspectors for its Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) wafers, Soitec has extended its partnership with KLA and selected the Surfscan SP A2 unpatterned inspection system for its SmartSiCTM wafers, a press release reads.
This partnership is said to enable SiC substrate production at "new and even more sophisticated levels, supporting the industry to bring high quality SiC semiconductors in high volumes to the automotive market".
With KLA, we have demonstrated the great potential of their inspection system for our all-important SOI technology. We now apply it to our innovative SmartSiCTM technology for the automotive sector. This will help us to drive our manufacturing efficiency, satisfy the growing demand from the electric vehicle market, and offer further added value to our customers, said Christophe Maleville, Chief Technology Officer of Soitec, in the press release.
In March 2022, Soitec announced the construction of a new fab, Bernin 4, at its headquarters in Bernin near Grenoble, France, primarily dedicated to the manufacturing of SmartSiC wafers in 150mm and 200mm size.
The new fab is expected to be operational by the second half of 2023.
