ST touts 50x capacitor density in passive integration “breakthrough”

October 11, 2005 – STMicroelectronics said it has found a way to increase junction capacity density in thin-film passive integration by a factor of 50x over conventional technologies that utilize oxides or nitrides of silicon or tantalum. The new technology is based on PZT perovskites, essentially compounds containing variable amounts of lead, zirconium, titanium, and oxygen, which have very high dielectric constants — up to k=900, over 200x that of silicon dioxide.

ST also said the perovskites can be integrated “cost-effectively” into the manufacturing flow of its IPAD (integrated passive and active devices) technology, which allows large numbers of passive components (e.g. capacitors) to be integrated with active devices such as ESD protection diodes into a single structure. With the new method, ST said a single IPAD component can replace more than 30 discrete devices with one die that is compatible with flip-chip packaging technology or system-in-package assembly with ICs.

The company said it has already used the technology for some customer-specific devices, and will release further technical details shortly when it introduces standard devices for the open market.

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