BERNIN, France -- Silicon On Insulator Technologies (Soitec) here announced a partnership to apply its silicon-on-insulator (SOI) processes to microdisplay products from Kopin Corp. as well as a range of other applications. The concept is to generate "silicon-on-anything" (SOA) capabilities by delaminating a flexible film of circuits from the top layer of wafers, using Soitec's Smart Cut technology.
Kopin's CyberDisplays use single-crystalline-on-insulator wafers to fabricate a display matrix, which is moved to another substrate, such as glass for microdisplays. These microdisplays are aimed at a range of applications, including eyepieces for portable Internet appliances, projection displays, and virtual reality goggles (see feature story on microdisplays).
And now the two companies plan to apply SOA processes to a range of other applications, such as smart cards and high-volume products that could use thin-film circuits. Soitec and Kopin officials, in Taunton, Mass., said silicon-on-anything processes could be used to make flexible circuits with a thickness of about one micron, which could then be layered on a plastic film for product applications.
"This application in the microtechnology area represents an exciting new use for our Smart Cut technology," said Andre Auberton-Herve, president of Soitec.
In the production of SOI substrates, Soitec's Smart Cut technology starts with an insulating oxide layer being grown on top of a silicon wafer. This wafer is then bonded to another silicon wafer, which has been treated with a high-current ion implantation process to form a cutting region underneath its surface. A cut is made along that region, leaving a thin layer of silicon on top of oxide, which sits on a silicon substrate.
