Specialty foundry TowerJazz (which has fabrication plants at Tower Semiconductor Ltd in Migdal Haemek, Israel, and at its subsidiaries Jazz Semiconductor Inc in Newport Beach, CA, USA and TowerJazz Japan Ltd) together with analog foundry TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co Ltd (TPSCo) in Japan have developed what is claimed to be the first 65nm millimetre-wave (mmWave) 110GHz RF-CMOS platform targeted at applications such as wireless communication (60-77GHz), automotive radar (57-86GHz, mostly 77GHz), and imaging and scanning (100GHz), among others.
TPSCo was established by Panasonic Corp, 51% of which was acquired by Tower Semiconductor Ltd and 49% of which is now held by Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co Ltd. TPSCo has three manufacturing facilities in Hokuriku, Japan which have been producing large-scale integrated circuits for over 30 years. Areas of process technology focus include: high-dynamic-range image sensors (CIS and CCD) and integrated power devices (BCD, SOI and LDMOS) as well as high-frequency silicon RF-CMOS.
TowerJazz and TPSCo are expanding their mmWave platform capabilities by introducing new process modules and comprehensive validated electronic design automation (EDA) tools and modeling, targeted to support a larger application segment. The platform supports 110GHz with RF modeling for MOSFETs, inductors and transmission lines, a very large set of metal combination and a full set of RF-CMOS elements. RF applications such as WiFi 802.11, Wireless HDMI, and WiGi that require 65nm mmWave technology can now utilize modeling capabilities up to 110GHz. In addition, this platform is automotive qualified at TPSCo's 300mm fab in Uozu City, Japan.
According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the millimetre-wave technology market was $208.1m in 2014 and will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43% in the near future. In particular, the North American millimetre-wave market is expected to grow from $96.1m in 2014 to $782.9m by 2020, driven by growing applications in the mobile and telecom sectors. TowerJazz anticipates its growth to surpass overall market growth as customers move from III-V technology to silicon-based technology with either SiGe or RF-CMOS.
"Expanding our 65nm RF-CMOS automotive platform into the mmWave regime is a mandatory part of our global MS/CMOS and RF-CMOS roadmap in order to provide a comprehensive and total solution for our automotive customers in Europe and to our wireless customers in the USA, Europe and across the board," says Ilan Rabinovich, VP & general manager of TowerJazz's MS/CMOS business unit. "This is yet an additional expansion of our offering in this marketplace. Having both advanced SiGe solutions and a 65nm Si-based RF platform enables our customers maximum flexibility in selecting the right technology for their specific application," he adds.
