September 11, 2007 – X-Fab Silicon Foundries says it has enhanced two of its 0.35-micron chip processes to widen offerings for chip designers working on analog/mixed-signal and smart-power applications. X-Fab says the upgrades amount to the first fully modular 0.35-micron foundry process, encompassing digital, analog, lower on-resistance, high-voltage, and embedded non-volatile memory features.

“Our customers working on advanced analog/mixed-signal tell us that smaller, cost-effective chip design is crucial for their success. X-FAB’s technology precisely meets that need — allowing them to select from a wide choice of options and modules, efficiently place more chips on a wafer at no additional cost, and reuse their analog IP,” said Jens Kosch, CTO at X-FAB, in a statement.

New modules with the firm’s XH0353 analog/mixed-signal platform include active and passive devices such as low-leakage and low-threshold core module options, additional primitive devices (e.g., double MIM capacitors, 10k poly resistors, and Schottky diodes), and HV depletion and HV thin gate oxide transistors, as well as embedded NVM options such as EEPROM and Zener Zap.

In addition, the foundry says it has enhanced its XH035 high-voltage devices to yield lower on-resistance (Ron) at lower mask count, enabling the design of smaller driver chips to serve the growing market of power management applications.

Automotive-qualified dual-sourcing is available from X-Fab’s sites in the UK and Malaysia.