Editing Silicon on sapphire (section)

== Applications ==
Silicon on sapphire pressure transducer, pressure transmitter and temperature sensor diaphragms have been manufactured using a patented process by Armen Sahagen since 1985.<ref name="Sensonetics"/> Outstanding performance in high temperature environments helped propel this technology forward. This SOS technology has been licensed throughout the world. ESI Technology Ltd. in the UK have developed a wide range of pressure transducers and pressure transmitters that benefit from the outstanding features of silicon on sapphire.<ref name="ESI-Tec"/>

[[Peregrine Semiconductor]] has used SOS technology to develop [[RF circuit|RF integrated circuits]] (RFICs) including [[RF switch]]es, [[digital step attenuator]]s (DSAs), [[Phase-locked loop|phase locked-loop]] (PLL) frequency synthesizers, [[prescaler]]s, mixers/[[Heterodyne|upconverters]], and [[variable-gain amplifier]]s. These RFICs are designed for commercial RF applications such as mobile handsets and cellular infrastructure, broadband consumer and [[DTV radio|DTV]], test and measurement, and industrial public safety, as well as rad-hard [[aerospace]] and [[Defense industry|defense]] markets.

[[Hewlett-Packard]] used SOS in some of their [[CPU]] designs, particularly in the [[HP 3000]] line of computers.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/pdfs/IssuePDFs/1979-09.pdf|date=September 1979|volume=30|number=9|journal=Hewlett-Packard Journal|title=SOS Technology Yields Low-Cost HP 3000 Computer System |first=Richard C. |last=Edwards|access-date=2021-12-29 |pages=3–6}}</ref>

Silicon on sapphire chips produced in the 1970s proved superior in performance to their all silicon counterparts, but this came at the cost of lower yields of just 9%.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/transparent-processor-found-in-vintage-hp-computer-silicon-on-sapphire-chip-discovered-on-a-humble-floppy-drive-pcb | title=Transparent processor found in vintage HP computer – exotic silicon-on-sapphire chip discovered on a humble floppy drive PCB | date=21 December 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.righto.com/2023/12/HP-silicon-on-sapphire-phi-chip.html?m=1&s=31 | title=The transparent chip inside a vintage Hewlett-Packard floppy drive }}</ref>