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In the Grésivaudan Valley near Grenoble, sometimes dubbed the “Silicon Valley of the Alps”, millions of highly sophisticated silicon wafers are produced every year.
They come from Soitec, a French company little known to the general public, but a world leader in advanced substrates for the semiconductor industry.
Founded 33 years ago around an invention developed at French technological research institute CEA-Leti, Soitec started with just a dozen or so people. Today, it employs more than 2,000 and holds more than 4,700 active patents worldwide, with production facilities in France and Singapore.
“Our roots are French, our reach is global. Our job is to run faster than the competition,” says Christophe Maleville, Soitec’s Chief Technology Officer.
The company produces advanced substrates: a high-tech silicon wafer used as the base material to build the world’s most powerful microchips. Its technology can be found in mobile phones, connected devices, cars and household appliances, as well as data centres.
“Today, we are the world leader in advanced substrates for semiconductors,” says Chief Operations Officer Cyril Menon. He points to Grenoble’s combination of research laboratories, universities and industrial companies as one reason for that success.
Inside Soitec’s highly controlled clean rooms, wafers pass through between 30 and 50 processing stages, involving the transfer of extremely thin layers of material from one substrate to another at atomic scale.
Several million advanced substrates leave Soitec’s factories each year. Around 60% of its revenue is generated in Asia, 30% in Europe and 10% in the United States.
Maintaining a technological lead requires heavy investment: SOITEC devotes 20% of its revenue to research and development.
“The speed of innovation becomes absolutely key, because we have to maintain the distance with the competition,” Maleville says.
Artificial intelligence is creating another opportunity, and another challenge. Its rapid development is driving demand for increasingly powerful data centres, while raising concerns about their energy and resource consumption.
SOITEC’s photonics products are designed to transfer information faster while reducing energy use.
They could also help fuel the highly controversial growth of artificial intelligence.
“How this AI is used is a debate that is worth having,” acknowledges Cyril Menon. “How we regulate it, how we make the best use of this AI, is an important issue for society. And this AI consumes a lot of energy, a lot of resources. So it is also important to provide products that help address this issue.”
For SOITEC’s executives, mastering these technologies is also about Europe’s place in the global industry.
“It is also by having these advanced technologies that we can have an impact on Europe’s future,” concludes Cyril Menon. “And have a seat at the table.”