4 August 2011

TowerJazz qualifies 0.13µm SiGe process transferred from US fab to Israel fab

Specialty foundry TowerJazz says that its 0.13µm silicon germanium (SiGe) technology (SBL13) has been successfully transferred from the fabrication plant of its US subsidiary Jazz Semiconductor in Newport Beach, CA, USA to its Tower Semiconductor Ltd fab in Migdal Haemek (MH), Israel.

The firm has completed the internal qualification of a heavily analog 0.13µm SiGe flow, adding a copper (Cu) backend in MH. “This helps extend our leadership in SiGe technology and provides a unique multi-fab SiGe sourcing capability for our customers,” says Dr Marco Racanelli, senior VP & general manager, RF and High Performance Analog Business Group, TowerJazz. “Providing a 0.13µm SiGe process with a Cu backend is important for applications that require high levels of integration,” he adds.

The technology is targeted at the wireless RF and digital TV tuner markets (worth >$1bn combined), where higher performance, lower cost and higher digital integration are required. TowerJazz says that it has won SBL13 customers that are now taking advantage of the Cu back-end offered in the Israeli facility, and it expects volume to ramp in Israel in first-half 2012.

TowerJazz says that its SBL13 process is suited to WLAN transceivers, cell-phone transceivers, and TV tuners. By combining SiGe bipolar performance with a mature 130nm CMOS copper backend, it enables high-performance RF with more integrated digital logic. It also allows the design of complex baseband and demodulator functions at less than a half the die size of a 0.18µm process, it is reckoned. A 100GHz SiGe bipolar device enables integration of low-noise and low-power RF, and a high-voltage SiGe device enables the integration of power amplifiers and drivers.

The SBL13 process includes three NPN transistors with an threshold frequency (fT) of 40GHz, 74GHz and 100GHz, respectively, as well as high-density passive elements such as high-density MIM capacitors and 3µm-thick copper inductors. TowerJazz says that 130nm CMOS with copper metallization achieves digital logic densities of up to 200Kgates/mm2, resulting in higher performance and more highly integrated RF products. 

Tags: TowerJazz SiGe

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