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TWST: We'd like to begin with a brief historical sketch of Ibis
Technology and a picture of the things you are doing at the present
time.
Mr. Reid: Ibis Technology is a leading supplier of oxygen implanters
used to manufacture SIMOX-SOI wafers for the global semiconductor
industry. We make semiconductor equipment that enables continued
semiconductor innovation through advanced silicon-on-insulator
technology. SIMOX, which stands for Separation-by-Implantation-of-
Oxygen, is a form of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology that creates
an insulating oxide barrier below the top surface of the silicon wafer
through implantation. Our proprietary oxygen implanters produce SIMOX-
SOI wafers by implanting oxygen just below the surface to create a very
thin layer of silicon dioxide. The buried layer of silicon dioxide acts
as an insulator for the devices fabricated on the surface of the silicon
wafer and reduces the electrical leakage, which otherwise slows
integrated circuit performance and/or increases the loss of power during
the operation of the devices. The buried layer of silicon dioxide also
helps to reduce the heat generated by the transistors. Through this
process, our customers can produce integrated circuits, which we believe
offer significant advantages over circuits constructed on conventional
silicon wafers. We believe that these advantages include: substantially
improved speed for microprocessors and other logic integrated circuits,
reduced power consumption, reduced soft error rate, higher temperature
operating environment, and, in some cases, fewer processing steps. These
characteristics make SIMOX-SOI wafers well suited for many commercial
applications including servers in workstations, portable and desktop
computers, entertainment devices such as TVs and game consoles ' like
the PlayStation3 and the Xbox ' and wireless communications and battery
powered, feature-rich handheld devices, including cell phones and harsh-
environment electronics. When Ibis began operations in 1988, much of the
revenue was derived from R&D contracts and sales of wafers for military
applications. Over the years, there has been a shift in revenue to sales
of SIMOX-SOI wafers for commercial applications, and the nature of our
business has really evolved through stages where our revenue was, at
times, primarily derived from selling wafers for evaluation purposes and
at other times, was primarily derived from equipment sales. In 2002,
Ibis introduced the current generation of SIMOX-SOI technology, which
included our second-generation oxygen implanter, the i2000. This i2000
has flexibility, automation, and operator friendly controls, allowing
the tool to produce a wide range of SIMOX-SOI wafer products by using
different manufacturing recipes. In mid-2004, we exited the wafer
manufacturing business to concentrate totally on supplying equipment.
This involved supplying equipment mainly to the major silicon wafer
manufacturers. We did this having advanced our primary goal of
establishing SIMOX-SOI as a leading SOI technology with a potential to
be the lowest cost, high volume offering. We now intend to work with
these major wafer manufacturers to support the market acceptance of
300mm SIMOX-SOI technology through continuing the process research and
development in conjunction with our customers. We believe this effort
will directly support the wafer manufacturer's decision to purchase our
equipment, and we believe that these capabilities position us to
capitalize on the growing SOI market.
Tickers included in this excerpt: IBIS
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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