Product category:
Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Zarlink Semiconductor | Subject: HSA process
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 17 October 2005
SOI process promises analogue advantages
A fully complementary silicon on insulator bipolar foundry technology is designed to meet the high performance requirements of DVD players, digital video recorders and ADSL modems.
Zarlink Semiconductor has introduced a fully complementary SOI (silicon on insulator) bipolar foundry technology designed to meet the high performance requirements of DVD players, digital video recorders and ADSL modems Building on its complementary SOI bipolar technology, Zarlink developed the new HSA process specifically for high-voltage, high-speed analogue products
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 7 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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With HSA, Zarlink is offering the industry's fastest commercially available SOI bipolar process capable of cost-effectively fabricating this challenging class of products.
"Customers want a foundry process that offers a cost-effective, high-performance analogue technology, combined with the advantages of SOI, to build high-voltage, high-speed products with high linearity", said Mike Khan, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Zarlink's High-Performance Analogue Foundry in Swindon, UK.
"The technology is available now with full Cadence process design kit support".
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"Leading analogue semiconductor companies are currently evaluating the HSA SOI process for a range of high-performance analogue devices".
Zarlink's HSA process is a double-polysilicon, triple-metal technology with fully complementary NPN and PNP transistor structures.
To overcome traditional trade-offs between high-speed and high-voltage operation and achieve best-in-class ratings in both these areas, the process employs advanced fabrication techniques, including state-of-the-art epitaxy, high-energy implantation, deep trench isolation and rapid thermal processing, all combined on cost effective SOI technology.
Zarlink designed the process to provide a transition frequency of 12GHz for both transistor types at the collector-emitter voltage of 5V.
The maximum oscillation frequency is 25GHz.
Both transistor types also have high collector-emitter breakdown voltages, typically around 15V, which are critical for high-power device designs.
"Compared with similar processes currently available from other foundries around the world, the HSA process provides customers with the ability to design the fastest high-voltage devices on SOI", said Dr Peter Osborne, Director of Technology at Zarlink's analogue foundry.
To assist designers in developing new products on HSA, a comprehensive design kit is available to support the new high-speed, high-voltage complementary SOI process.
The kit features an extensive suite of well-characterised, high-quality analogue design components.
These include a wide range of sises of NPN/PNP transistors, Schottky diodes, three types of polysilicon resistors, MIM (metal insulator metal) and MIS (metal insulator silicon) capacitors, and inductors on top-level metal.
Zarlink's HSA technology is available for low-cost prototyping using a multiproject wafer processing service.
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