Feb. 14, 2002 – Danvers, MA, and St. Peters, MO – Ibis Technology Corp. and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. have signed a technical cooperation agreement aimed at developing advanced separation-by-implantation-of-oxygen (SIMOX) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers.

This agreement expands on the existing Ibis-MEMC alliance under which MEMC became a global sales representative for Ibis’ complete line of SIMOX-SOI wafers, including the Advantox family of wafers, and MEMC became the primary supplier of silicon substrate material to Ibis.

The priorities of the alliance include boosting device performance and fab yield through defect density improvement in the device layer using wafers such as MEMC’s OPTIAproduct, and accelerating the industry’s adoption of Ibis’ SIMOX-SOI products, the companies said.

As part of the agreement, the companies will work together to develop new technology and improvements in SOI technology, products, and optimized silicon wafer substrates.

The earlier agreement between the companies also granted MEMC the right to license Ibis’ SIMOX-SOI wafer technology and to purchase oxygen implanters manufactured by Ibis. Such rights were designed to provide MEMC with the option to produce and sell SIMOX-SOI wafers in the future.