SOITEC : Soitec and CEA sign a Five-Year R&D Partnership on Advanced Engineered Substrates and Materials

18 december 2013 Soitec and CEA sign a Five-Year R&D Partnership on Advanced Engineered Substrates and Materials Grenoble, France, Dec. 18th, 2013 - Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, and CEA have renewed their long-standing and fruitful partnership for the next five years. This new contract aims to support Soitec's strategy for the electronics, solar energy and lighting markets. It will focus on engineered substrates and materials offering higher performances and energy savings at a competitive cost. As the new partnership is putting in place a powerful R&D ecosystem, time from research to product will be considerably reduced. Thanks to the strengths of CEA-Leti in electronic materials, multi-domain research and its pre- industrialization infrastructure, competitive R&D sample prototyping will be enabled thru a common platform, reducing time to market and R&D costs for Soitec and its customers. The CEA-Leti and Soitec teams will focus their efforts on developing new materials generations to support Soitec road maps in three markets (electronics, solar energy and lighting). To do so, they will leverage the CEA-Leti and Soitec expertise and will use Smart Cut(TM) technology and extended tool box as key assets to support the next generations of mobile devices, solar cells and LEDs. Dr. Carlos Mazuré, CTO of Soitec, emphasized: "in our industry, competitive pre- industrialization research, development of technology and product prototypes have become very important to make the difference. The CEA-Leti and Soitec partnership establishes a powerful alliance that is capable of answering the numerous challenges of today's industrial requirements and building on our well- established material expertise." He added: "The agreement aims at accelerating exploratory research as well as technology innovation to prepare the products of tomorrow. It complements the Soitec strategy of entering new markets with high-efficiency concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology, high-intensity LEDs for lighting applications and engineered substrates for electronic applications." Laurent Malier, Director of CEA-Leti, said, "In recent years, Soitec has widely expanded its footprint and impact by addressing the electronics and energy challenges through its unique technologies which we developed together. Our partnership is the most efficient framework for securing research execution to support the ambitions of Soitec, and CEA-Leti teams are committed to its success." About Soitec: Soitec is an international manufacturing company, a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials at the frontier of the most exciting energy and electronic challenges. Soitec's products include substrates for microelectronics (most notably SOI: Silicon-on-Insulator) and concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPV). The company's core technologies are Smart Cut(TM), Smart Stacking(TM) and Concentrix(TM), as well as expertise in epitaxy. Applications include consumer and mobile electronics, microelectronics- driven IT, telecommunications, automotive electronics, lighting products and large-scale solar power plants. Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France, Singapore, Germany and the United States. For more information, visit: www.soitec.com. About CEA-Leti: By creating innovation and transferring it to industry, Leti is the bridge between basic research and production of micro- and nanotechnologies that improve the lives of people around the world. Backed by its portfolio of 2,200 patents, Leti partners with large industrials, SMEs and startups to tailor advanced solutions that strengthen their competitive positions. It has launched more than 50 startups. Its 8,000 m² of new-generation cleanroom space feature 200mm and 300mm wafer processing of micro and nano solutions for applications ranging from space to smart devices. Leti's staff of more than 1,700 includes 200 assignees from partner companies. Leti is based in Grenoble, France, and has offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., and Tokyo. Visit www.leti.fr for more information. Press contacts Soitec: Trade press: Camille Darnaud-Dufour +33 (0)6 79 49 51 43 camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.com Business press: Marylen Schmidt +33 (0) 4 76 92 87 83 marylen.schmidt@soitec.com Investor relations: Olivier Brice +33 (0)4 76 92 93 80 olivier.brice@soitec.com CEA-Leti: CEA-Leti: +33 (0)4 38 78 02 26 pierre-damien.berger@cea.fr Agency: +33 (0)6 64 52 81 10 aravier@mahoneylyle.com Press release in PDF: http://hugin.info/143589/R/1750982/590161.pdf This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: SOITEC via GlobeNewswire [HUG#1750982]