Soitec, a global leader in innovative semiconductor materials, and China-based specialty foundry ZenSemi have announced a strategic collaboration to enable high-volume production of 300mm BCD-on-SOI (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS on Silicon-on-Insulator) technologies aimed at supporting next-generation power electronics applications, including AI datacenters, electric vehicles (EVs), humanoid robots and industrial systems.
Under the partnership, Soitec will provide its advanced 300mm Power-SOI substrates to ZenSemi, supporting the development and capacity ramp-up of a new BCD-on-SOI manufacturing process. The collaboration combines Soitec’s expertise in engineered semiconductor substrates with ZenSemi’s specialty foundry capabilities to deliver a high-performance manufacturing platform for fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs).
The companies stated that BCD-on-SOI technology offers significant advantages over conventional BCD-on-bulk solutions. Through full dielectric isolation, the technology inherently eliminates parasitic latch-up while substantially reducing electrical crosstalk and parasitic effects. This enables the dense integration of high-voltage power stages and sensitive low-voltage control circuitry on a single chip, improving both performance and reliability.
As a result, the platform is designed to provide high power density and robust operational reliability while meeting the demanding energy and functional safety (FuSa) requirements of emerging applications.
The newly developed 300mm BCD-on-SOI process is intended to address growing demand in high-value markets, including high-efficiency power distribution systems for AI datacenters, automotive and robotics applications requiring stringent functional safety compliance, and battery management systems (BMS) used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Commenting on the partnership, René Jonker, Chief Product Officer at Soitec, said the collaboration highlights the growing maturity of the BCD-on-SOI ecosystem in China. He noted that the combination of ZenSemi’s specialized foundry expertise, backed by a team experienced in international power electronics standards, and Soitec’s engineered substrate technology is establishing a new benchmark for power electronics manufacturing.
Ruby Yan, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at ZenSemi, said the company has achieved successful first-silicon validation with its flagship lead customer. According to Yan, an 18-channel analog front-end (AFE) device developed using the SOI-based approach demonstrated an approximately 30% reduction in die size compared with traditional bulk BCD processes, validating the technology’s strengths in die area optimization and circuit resilience.
She added that the collaboration with Soitec will support the rapid expansion of ZenSemi’s 300mm SOI-BCD manufacturing capacity. Once full-volume production is achieved, the platform is expected to enable Chinese and international design houses to develop smaller, more robust and cost-optimized power integrated circuits for rapidly expanding automotive, artificial intelligence and industrial markets.
