Okmetic has announced it will be investing tens of millions of euros in its Vantaa, Finland plant between 2019–2021. The silicon wafer manufacturer is mainly targeting the company’s core competence, SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) wafers, and will gradually double the company’s SOI production capacity.
”SOI wafers provide an optimal substrate for the manufacture of most advanced MEMS and power components. As a world’s leading supplier for SOI wafers, we have been witnessing a growing demand for these wafers as a result of the increasing amount of advanced MEMS and power components used in the electronics sector,” said Anna-Riikka Vuorikari-Antikainen , Senior VP of Customers and Markets.
The company’s decision to increase its SOI production capacity is part of Okmetic’s growth and investment programme for 2017–2021, with a total value of over €100 million.
This naturally follows on from the 2017–2018 investments, which involved a plant expansion with over 1,000 sqm of cleanroom space as well as new capabilities such as lithographic patterning and deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) enabling the production of embedded structures in SOI wafers.
President Kai Seikku said: “The latest investment decision is a response to the needs of our customers and the markets they operate in. With the aid of our investment programme, we are striving to ensure sufficient capacity for the next few years in order to support our customers’ business.”
SOI wafers are silicon wafers with a thin silicon film on insulating oxide, and their production requires a very high level of technological expertise. SOI wafers enable the manufacture of the most advanced MEMS and power components used in automotive and healthcare applications, smart wristbands, smartphones and tablets as well as applications related to the Internet of Things (IoT) utilising sensor-provided data in device-to-device communication.
