X-Fab

Last updated
X-FAB Silicon Foundries
Euronext:  XFAB
Industry Microelectronics
Founder Roland Duchâtelet
Headquarters
Erfurt   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rudi De Winter
(President & CEO)
Revenue US$ 740 million (2022)
Number of employees
4,200
Website X-FAB.com

The X-FAB Silicon Foundries is a group of semiconductor foundries. The group specializes in the fabrication of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, as well as MEMS and solutions for high voltage applications. [1] The holding company named "X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE" is based in Tessenderlo, Belgium while its headquarters is located in Erfurt, Germany. [2]

Contents

History

X-Fab logo until 2020 X-FAB logo.svg
X-Fab logo until 2020

As a result of the German reunification in the 1990s, came to the dismantling of the old electronics conglomerate in East Germany named Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt . The conglomerate was privatized in 1992 and divided into X-FAB Gesellschaft zur Fertigung von Wafern mbH (simply known as X-Fab) and the Thesys Gesellschaft für Mikroelektronik mbH (simply known as Thesys). X-Fab would be majority owned by the company Melexis  [ fr ] while Thesys would be majority owned by the German state of Thuringia. [3] [4]

In 1999, X-Fab acquired a foundry from Texas Instruments in Lubbock, Texas, USA. [2] In the same year, X-Fab (at this time owned by Belgian holding company named Elex N.V) [3] acquired Thesys and disposed of its non-foundry business. [2]

In 2002, X-Fab acquired Zarlink wafer plant in Plymouth, United Kingdom. [2]

In 2006, X-Fab merged with 1st Silicon, a semiconductor fabrication plant located in Sarawak, Malaysia. The Sarawak government acquired 35% of X-Fab shares in the merger. [5]

In 2007, X-Fab acquired the foundry business from ZMD, thus enabling ZMD to focus on its core business of design and developing analog mixed signal devices. [6]

In December 2009, X-Fab sold its United Kingdom wafer plant to Plus Semi, the old Plessey Semiconductors plant in Swindon, England. [7]

In February 2011, the company added Rudi De Winter as co-CEO. He later assumed the role of CEO in 2014. [8]

In 2012, the X-Fab group acquired MEMS foundry Itzehoe GmbH where the latter was a spin-off from Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology (ISIT). Nevertheless, X-Fab continues its cooperation with ISIT in the chip business. [9] [10] X-Fab also expanded its MEMS manufacturing capabilities. The foundry in Itzehoe became fully owned by X-Fab in 2015. [2]

In 2015, PowerAmerica (a research institute under Manufacturing USA network) collaborated with X-Fab production facility in Lubbock, Texas to produce 150-mm Silicon carbide wafers for power electronics applications. [11]

In 2016, the X-FAB group acquired the assets of Altis Semiconductor, making the fab in France their sixth manufacturing site. [12]

In July 2020, X-FAB temporarily halted IT systems and production lines to prevent damage following a Maze ransomware attack. [13]

Corporate affairs

The main shareholders of X-Fab Silicon Foundries are Xtrion NV (61.4%) and Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn Bhd (35.2%). [14] [4] In 2017, X-Fab made an initial public offering (IPO) in France, where 36.2% of the shares were available for purchase. Meanwhile, Xtrion reduced its shareholdings to 48.3% and Sarawak Technology Holdings reduced its shares to 14.4%. [4] Xtrion NV also holds majority shares in Melexis, where the latter is a major customer for X-Fab. Meanwhile, Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn Bhd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the government of Sarawak. [14] Both Xtrion and Sarawak Technology Holdings have the power to appoint two directors each onto the board of directors of X-Fab. [14] X-Fab revenue reached US$ 512.9 million in 2016. [4]

Production capabilities

As of 2017, X-Fab has six wafer plants around the world, with production capacity of 9,4000 200-mm sized wafers, ranging from 800 nm process to 130 nm process: [4]

X-Fab employs a total of 2,946 people in all its production facilities as of 2016. [4]

X-fab's chips are used in automotive, industrial, consumer, and medical industries. [1] As of 2016, X-Fab's European/Middle East customers accounted for 54% of the sales, followed by Asia (36%) and North America (10%). [4] The biggest buyer of X-Fab's chips is Melexis (34%). [4] [14] Other buyers of X-Fab chips are: Goodix, Lite-On, Micronas, Sensata, Integrated Device Technology, Knowles Electronics, and others. [2] Russian buyers for X-Fab chips were: CJSC PKK Milander, KTTS "Electronics", VZPP-S, VZPP-Mikron, and OJSC NII Electronic Engineering (NIIET). [21]

In 2022 X-Fab licensed a 130 nm siGe BiCMOS platform from the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics(IHP). [22] [23] Beforehand, X-Fabs products were already being used in IHPs SG13S and SG13G2 chips. [24]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Bush, Steve (25 March 2021). "X-Fab adds photodiodes to 180nm process, from UV to near-IR". Electronics Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "X-Fab - Exposed to growing markets, but fairly valued". Credit Suisse. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt" (in German). Robotron Technik (open community project documenting the history of VEB Robotron and other electronics companies in East Germany). Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE - Offering of up to 50,000,390 Ordinary Shares (and up to 5,000,039 additional Ordinary Shares if the Over-allotment Option is exercised in full) Listing of all Shares on Euronext Paris" (PDF). Euronext Paris. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Hammerschmidt, Christoph (6 September 2006). "X-Fab completes merger with 1st Silicon". EE Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Hammerschmidt, Christoph (29 March 2007). "X-Fab takes over ZMD's foundry activities". EE Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Happich, Julien (12 January 2009). "X-FAB and Plus Semi agree on sale of X-FAB UK". EE Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Board of Directors". X-Fab. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Clarke, Peter (11 May 2012). "X-Fab takes control of another MEMS foundry". EE Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "X-FAB Acquires Majority Share in MFI". X-Fab. 1 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Wellmann, Peter; Ohtani, Noboru; Rupp, Roland (10 January 2022). Wide Bandgap Semiconductors for Power Electronic A guide to the field of wide bandgap semiconductor technology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 306. ISBN   9783527346714 . Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "X-Fab to buy assets of Altis". Electronics Weekly. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  13. ↑ Stegall, Amber. "Ransomware attack halts X-FAB production in Lubbock, worldwide". KCBD News Channel. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE Corporate Governance Charter" (PDF). XFab. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "X-FAB to Invest More than $50M in MEMS Operations". design-reuse.com. 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  16. ↑ "X-FAB and Exagan Fab GaN-on-Si Devices on 200-mm Wafers". eepower.com. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  17. ↑ "X-Fab takes control of another MEMS foundry". eetimes.com. 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  18. ↑ "X-FAB Brings High Voltage180nm Automotive-Qualified Process to French Fab". eepower.com. 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  19. ↑ "X-FAB Sarawak Set To Begin Volume Production Of 0.35 Micrometer Analog/Mixed-Signal High-Voltage Technology". semiconductoronline.com. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  20. ↑ "X-FAB offers high-volume 6-inch SiC foundry production". semiconductor-today.com. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  21. ↑ "Russian microelectronics for space: who produces what". Sudonull. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "X-Fab Partners with IHP on BiCMOS Technology". eepower.com. 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  23. ↑ "X-Fab licenses 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS platform". eenewseurope.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  24. ↑ "X-FAB Partners With IHP to Advance SiGe BiCMOS Technology". eetimes.com. 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
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