X-Fab

X-FAB Silicon Foundries

X-FAB in Erfurt (2020)
Traded as	Euronext: XFAB CAC Small
Industry	Microelectronics
Founder	Roland Duchâtelet
Headquarters	Erfurt
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]

History

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]

• Erfurt, Germany - producing CMOS semiconductors and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS devices) from 200-mm wafers^[15]
• Dresden, Germany - producing CMOS semiconductors from 200-mm wafers^[16]
• Itzehoe, Germany - producing MEMS devices from 200-mm wafers^[17]
• Corbeil-Essonnes, France - producing 180-nm CMOS semiconductors^[18]
• Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia - producing CMOS semiconductors from 200-mm wafers^[19]
• Lubbock, Texas, United States - producing CMOS and BiCMOS semiconductors from 150-mm wafers^[20]

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

• Pure-Play Semiconductor Foundry
• List of semiconductor fabrication plants

References

1. 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. "X-Fab - Exposed to growing markets, but fairly valued". Credit Suisse. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
3. "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. "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. "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.