American Semiconductor demonstrated tunable circuits built on Flexfet™, a unique independent double-gated transistor technology. Circuit tuning is enabled by Flexfet's dynamic threshold control, which allows transistors, circuits or entire chips to be optimized for power or performance on the fly. Flexfet's double-gated architecture brings additional benefits of ultra-low power and inherent radiation tolerance.
American Semiconductor is a U.S. foundry offering pure-play, on-shore foundry services, including FleX™ extreme wafer thinning; Flexfet™ advanced CMOS technology; and custom fabrication for non-standard wafer processing, novel process integration or copy smart process replication.
For additional information, contact:
Rich Chaney
(T) 208-336-2773
(E) richchaney@americansemi.com
(W) www.americansemi.com
austriamicrosystems' business unit Full Service Foundry extended its service portfolio for fabless companies buying turnkey products with an extensive level of product qualification. austriamicrosystems' long-term experience as a qualified and well recognized supplier to industrial, medical and automotive end markets enables companies to sell into applications where such quality standards are mandatory.
As part of its commitment to provide best-in-class analog semiconductor process technology, manufacturing and services, austriamicrosystems offers a 1,000-hour high-temperature operation life (HTOL), highly accelerated stress test (HAST), electrostatic discharge (ESD) and burn-in test, as well as product qualification service, temperature characterization and matrix runs (skew lots) to ensure a robust design on all process corners. Extended quality inspection during product ramp-up and a dedicated failure analysis and reliability service complete the offering.
For additional information, contact:
Ron Vogel
(T) 408-345-1790
(E) ronald.vogel@austriamicrosystems.com
(W) www.austriamicrosystems.com
As part of their joint development alliance, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon, Samsung and STMicroelectronics have defined and are jointly developing a 28nm high-k metal gate (HKMG) low-power process technology. A 28nm low-power technology evaluation kit was made available in December 2008 to early access customers, followed by the release of an evaluation kit for open access to the general marketplace in March 2009. Early risk production is anticipated in the second half of 2010. The alliance has gained valuable experience in the implementation of HKMG technology through working with customers on 32nm low-power technology, and is offering a migration path from 32nm to 28nm technology.
For additional information, contact:
Tiffany Sparks
(T) 408-941-1185
(E) tiffanys@charteredsemi.com
(W) www.charteredsemi.com
Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the leading semiconductor foundries in China, announced the delivery of its advanced 0.18μm RFCMOS process design kit (PDK) through an exclusive 0.18μm RFCMOS collaboration with Sentinel IC Technologies. The Grace 0.18μm RFCMOS PDK is an innovative design enablement platform that overcomes limitations common to the current industry-standard PDKs. The PDK integrates innovative, fully scalable parametric cells (PCELLS) rich in radio frequency (RF)-centric features with a state-of-the-art modeling and simulation platform. The combination enables designers to maximize chip performance and reduce die size while greatly shortening design cycle times. Grace's 0.18μm industry baseline RFCMOS technology offers multiple Vt metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) libraries at 1.8V and 3.3V, thick top metal for high-quality inductors, MOS and junction varactors, high-density metal-insulator-metal (MiM) capacitors, deep Nwell isolation, and an industry-leading resistor offering including low- and high-value poly resistors.
For additional information, contact:
(T) 86-21-5080-8888
(E) customerservice@gracesemi.com
(W) www.gracesemi.com
Jazz Semiconductor, a Tower Group company, was named Foundry Supplier of the Year by Skyworks for its improved cycle times and quality, technology innovation enabling key initiatives, strong customer support and improved alignment on business strategies.
Tower and Jazz expanded their presence in Korea to address growing customer demand and appointed a country manager focused on power management, analog/mixed-signal, image sensor and RF application markets.
Korea-based Cesign selected Jazz's leading-edge power management technology, a 0.25μm Bipolar-MOS-DMOS process (BCD25), to develop and manufacture its innovative class-D amplifier. In addition, Lime Microsystems selected Jazz's 0.18μm SiGe process for its configurable multi-band, multi-standard transceiver targeting Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide lnteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) femtocells.
For additional information, contact:
Melinda Jarrell
(T) 949-435-8181
(E) melinda.jarrell@jazzsemi.com
(W) www.jazzsemi.com
Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the most advanced in China, and Dolphin Integration, a leader in virtual components for high-resolution audio applications, partnered for the release of the latest generation of digital-to-analog (DTA) audio converters that feature ultra low-power consumption.
Through this strategic alliance, the two companies will combine their abilities in design and fabrication to offer state-of-the-art solutions to their common customers using mature processes. The new shDAC95-Helium DTA converter from Dolphin, featured in SMIC's 0.11μm and 0.13μm process technologies, is now available under this agreement. The converters offer power consumption as low as 6.9mW in playback mode and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as high as 95dB, making it useful for portable media player applications requiring high sound quality and long playback capability. Further products are in development.
For additional information, contact:
(T) 86-21-3861-0000
(W) www.smics.com
SilTerra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. debuted a foundry-compatible, copper-based 110nm CMOS logic technology as the 10 percent optical shrink for its copper-based 130nm CMOS logic technology, which has been in mass production for more than two years. The technology, CL110G, applies 10 percent linear optical shrink on customers' 130nm databases. The electrical device specification and Simulation Program with IC Emphasis (SPICE) model of CL110G are optimized to match the original 130nm design. CL110G is developed with advanced processing tools to enhance yield performance.
Silterra's CL110G technology is optimized for high-performance and high-density complex designs with demanding product performance. This technology features eight layers of dual damascene copper metallization, borderless contacts and vias with fluorinated silica glass (FSG) intermetal dielectric. The technology is supported by a complete set of foundry foundation intellectual property (IP) from Virage Logic, ARM and other silicon IP providers to help customers shorten time-to-market and reduce development cost. The design flow is also validated in Synopsys and Mentor Graphics platforms.
For additional information, contact:
(W) www.silterra.com
SVTC Technologies partnered with Entrepix to provide 300mm chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) development and production services for customers who use the Tool Access Program (TAP) at the SVTC fab in Austin, Texas. CMP is a critical process step in semiconductor manufacturing. The partnership allows SVTC to leverage each company's individual strengths, with SVTC furnishing a state-of-the-art manufacturing environment with a full suite of process and metrology tools. Under the terms of the agreement, all CMP processing, technology support and customer interface for SVTC's 300mm TAP program will be performed by Entrepix' engineering team at SVTC, following the same outsourcing model Entrepix uses at its foundry in Tempe, Arizona.
For additional information, contact:
(T) 408-943-2188
(W) www.svtc.com
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) unveiled the first foundry-specific integrated sign-off flow, an automated chip implementation flow that tightly integrates all process-specific items. TSMC also introduced the foundry industry's first mixed-signal/RF reference design kit. The new design kit initially targets 65nm process technology node designs and helps resolve the long-standing challenges of full-chip verification of systems-on-chip (SOCs) with both analog and digital content. These two initiatives are part of TSMC's open innovation platform, a platform that promotes the speedy implementation of innovation among TSMC customers and ecosystem partners.
Established in 1987, TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry. As the founder and leader of the dedicated foundry business, TSMC has built its reputation on providing advanced wafer production processes and unparalleled manufacturing efficiency. From its inception, TSMC has consistently offered the foundry segment's leading technologies and TSMC-compatible design services to its customers. The company's total managed capacity exceeds eight million eight-inch equivalent wafers, while its revenues represent approximately 50 percent of the dedicated foundry segment. TSMC became the first semiconductor foundry seven years ago to enter the ranks of the top 10 IC companies in worldwide sales. According to an IC Insights report, TSMC ranked number five in worldwide sales in 2008.
For additional information, contact:
Melinda Jenkins
(E) melinda.jenkins@ar-edelman.com
(W) www.tsmc.com
Tower Semiconductor and its fully owned U.S. subsidiary Jazz Semiconductor held two technology and marketing conferences in Japan to re-emphasize their commitment to the Japan market after the companies' successful merger which created a broader process portfolio for customer innovation. The conferences focused on SiGe BiCMOS, RF, high-performance analog (HPA) power management, embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) and power laterally diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) solutions.
Tower and Triune Systems collaborated to develop IP for Tower's 0.18μm BCD process to deliver a family of low- and high-voltage power management products and the most complete power management platform in the industry.
Tower awarded Applied Materials with a multi-year service contract to support wafer processing systems at Tower's Fab 2. By leveraging Applied's unmatched infrastructure, technology and global expertise, Tower expects to realize substantial cost and operating efficiencies.
For additional information, contact:
Melinda Jarrell
(T) 949-435-8181
(E) melinda.jarrell@jazzsemi.com
(W) www.jazzsemi.com
United Microelectronics (UMC) is now delivering customer products manufactured on the foundry's 45/40nm process technology, with initial wafer lots exhibiting excellent yield and cycle times. The high-performance 45/40nm logic process is UMC's independently developed technology that utilizes advanced immersion lithography and incorporates ultra-shallow junction, mobility enhancement techniques and ultra low-k dielectrics for maximum power and performance optimization. Multiple voltage and transistor options are available to satisfy the needs of a wide range of applications, including high speed, low power and analog/RF for SOC designs. UMC's silicon shuttle prototyping program features several 45/40nm shuttle runs this year. Please visit UMC's Website to view the full schedule.
For additional information, contact:
Richard Yu
(T) 886-2-2700-6999 ext. 6951
(E) richard_yu@umc.com
(W) www.umc.com
The X-FAB Group announced five new options for its XB06 (0.60μm) BiCMOS technology platform. Included are two first-of-a-kind capabilities for the high-growth optoelectronics market. Technology advancements include an innovative, cost-efficient light shield module that enhances protection of light-sensitive areas on a chip, and a new blue PIN diode module with especially high light sensitivity, high bandwidth and low dark current, approaching theoretical limits.
In an additional financial release, X-FAB announced continued profitability in 2008 despite challenging market conditions, with revenue of $368.1 million, down 10 percent year-over-year (YoY). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) as of December 31, 2008 were positive at $7.2 million, and the equity ratio was 65.4 percent.
For additional information, contact:
(T) 408-844-0066 ext. 101
(E) info@xfab.com
(W) www.xfab.com
