February 13, 2026 -
CEA and Soitec launch their collaborative area
CEA and Soitec recently launched an area dedicated to their joint research within CEA-Leti's clean rooms. It will consolidate their long-standing collaboration and accelerate the company's R&D projects, thanks to teams and equipment exclusively dedicated to the new arrangement.
Soitec, the world leader in manufacturing cutting-edge materials for semiconductors, owes its beginnings to research conducted at CEA-Leti. Since the company was founded in 1992, the two stakeholders have maintained a continuous close relationship, which has led to developing many innovations.
From a SiC pilot line to a dedicated CEA/Soitec area
For example, Soitec's pilot line for its SiC (silicon carbide) supply chain was installed in CEA-Leti clean rooms. In September 2023, their joint work led to the launch of a manufacturing site for SmartSiC™ technology in record time.
“This major achievement prompted CEA and Soitec to adjusting the model and repeating the experience," explained Sébastien Dauvé, the CEO of CEA-Leti. “This time, the idea was to further involve CEA teams in technology development, and to provide a new organizational system to better steer and follow work in progress."
As a result, the two partners decided to create an area dedicated to their collaboration while remaining within CEA-Leti's clean rooms. Its aim will be to improve the execution speed of Soitec's R&D work, and to ensure more precise monitoring. It will initially focus on pilot lines dedicated to two III-IV semiconductors, gallium nitride (GaN), and indium phosphide (InP). Christophe Maleville, Senior Executive Vice-President, Innovation, and Soitec CTO, was delighted:
“More than a mere technical stage in the shared history of CEA-Leti/Soitec, we are celebrating an important milestone in our collaboration."
Dedicated teams and equipment
To achieve this ambition, the dedicated area will bring together approximately thirty specific fittings, with a full-time staff of thirty or so employees from both CEA and Soitec.
“Human support is essential for this project," highlighted Véronique Sousa, a project manager at CEA-Leti. “It involves facilitating collaboration between CEA and Soitec teams, which each have their own methods, habits, and constraints… In addition to any resulting technical difficulties, it is therefore essential to establish a sustainable modus operandi, based on trust and on understanding the needs of everyone."
Additionally, the dedicated area comes with a new organization. It will need to be adapted to the requirements of Soitec, and to include a specific WIP (Work in Progress) mode to define the rules of managing unfinished batches. This framework also concerns interfaces between the area and the outside world. Although it is defined by activities specific to the partnership, it nonetheless requires regular interactions with the other stakeholders in CEA-Leti's clean rooms. Interactions controlled and monitored by a new ad hoc IT system.
Launched in October 2025, the dedicated CEA/Soitec area was inaugurated on January 27, 2026. It was an opportunity to celebrate the long-standing and fruitful collaboration between the two partners and to applaud the efforts of the teams who worked and continue to work towards its success.