Industry Expert Blogs

One of the most frequently discussed concerns regarding FDSOI adoption is the higher starting wafer cost compared to bulk technology. This discussion was also brought up after my earlier post, illustrating an FDSOI roadmap that extends to more mature nodes. The original FinFET technology announcement claimed 10% higher cost as the reason why they chose bulk FinFET over planar FDSOI.

While this easy-to-remember number resonates well with people familiar with typical foundry wafer cost in 28nm and above, it is certainly not true for Intel’s 22nm technology. The price of 300mm SOI wafers is known; it is roughly $300 higher than bulk Si wafers. For this to impose a 10% higher wafer cost on Intel, their 22nm manufacturing cost should be only $3000 per wafer. While their wafer cost is not known to the public, a ballpark can be estimated fairly easily.

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