SOI as a mainstream IC technology

Silicon on insulator (SOI) based devices have been a research theme for about two decades. The advantages over bulk Si are clear and SOI substrates have been expected to break into the mainstream CMOS IC industry. Until now, these expectations have not been realized. The reasons behind this include: (i) SOI wafer availability, quality and cost; (ii) SOI MOSFET floating body effects and lower breakdown voltage; and (iii) economic reasons that propel bulk CMOS advances in circuit techniques and process technology. This situation is now changing. Battery operated portable devices are called to perform advanced functions that include communication in the RF spectrum at frequencies in the 400 MHz to 2.5 GHz range, as well as complex signal and graphic processing. The low voltage, low power and high performance requirements are showing the limitations of bulk CMOS and are opening a new opportunity for SOI. In this paper, the status of SOI device applications and manufacturing considerations are reviewed.