CEA-Leti and Soitec Announce Strategic Partnership to Leverage FD-SOI for Enhanced Security of Integrated Circuits

Core Insights - CEA-Leti and Soitec have formed a strategic partnership to enhance the cybersecurity of integrated circuits (ICs) using fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies, targeting critical markets such as automotive, industrial IoT, and secure infrastructure [1][2][3] Group 1: Partnership Objectives - The initiative aims to experimentally validate and augment the security benefits of FD-SOI, providing concrete data and practical demonstrations to meet rising cybersecurity demands [2][4] - Key goals include co-developing innovations to boost physical robustness and meet security requirements in automotive and embedded systems, as well as demonstrating empirical security data for certification contexts [6][7] Group 2: Technological Advantages - FD-SOI offers significant advantages against physical attacks, including laser fault injection (LFI), due to its thin-film architecture and channel isolation [3][7] - The technology enables power-performance optimization, essential for battery-constrained applications like automotive electronic control units (ECUs) and industrial sensors [7] - Enhanced protection features include embedded anti-tamper mechanisms and physical unclonable functions (PUFs) for hardware fingerprinting, along with dynamic response mechanisms to counter emerging threats [7] Group 3: Long-Term Vision - The partnership sets the stage for long-term innovation, envisioning a next-generation cyber-substrate that addresses both cyber and supply-chain vulnerabilities, making FD-SOI more secure and indispensable [5][6] Group 4: Company Backgrounds - CEA-Leti is a global leader in miniaturization technologies, focusing on smart, energy-efficient, and secure solutions, with a portfolio of 3,200 patents and over 2,000 employees [8][9] - Soitec, a leader in innovative semiconductor materials, generated sales of €0.9 billion in fiscal year 2024-2025 and holds nearly 4,300 patents, serving key markets including mobile communications, automotive, and industrial [10]