Soitec and SEZ Collaborate to Speed Industrialization of sSOI Joint effort focuses on perfecting the wet-etch process used to optimize and speed germanium removal during sSOI volume production Soitec and SEZ have initiated a joint development program intended to speed the industrialization of next-generation strained silicon-on-insulator (sSOI) substrates. The goal is to develop new wet-etch processes designed to optimize total germanium removal in sSOI manufacturing. In the sSOI Smart Cut™ process, selectively etching off the germanium template, which is used only to induce the “strain” in the active silicon layer, is a critical step. Soitec and SEZ will work together to optimize quality, throughput and cost of ownership, creating a reproducible process that can potentially be used to manufacture other complex materials.