November 8, 2012 – X-Fab Silicon Foundries is now offering what it calls the industry’s first 200V SOI foundry technology, a trench dielectric isolated SOI foundry technology that allows blocks at different voltage levels to be integrated on a single chip. This significantly reduces the number of required additional components on printed circuit boards, eliminates latch-up, and provides built-in robustness against electromagnetic interference, the company says.
The XT018 process combines fully isolated MOS transistors for the high-voltage drain with a 0.18μm technology for 1.8V / 5.0V I/O and up to 6 metal layers. It incorporates a super-junction architecture with patented dielectric HV termination for the MOS transistors, allowing compact design with a Ron as low as 0.3Ωmm2 for 100V and 1.1Ωmm2 for 200V nMOS transistors. The HV MOS transistors are designed to have identical electrical parameters for both low- and high-side operation.
A 5V-only module is included for analog-focused applications; HVnmos and Hvpmos modules can be selected separately. A thick metal option supports high-current routing, isolated 10V MOS, basic junction diodes, and bipolar transistors, medium- and high-ohmic poly resistors, and an area-efficient high-capacity MIM (2.2-6.6 fF/μm2), as well as a high-voltage capacitor. The super-junction technology allows rectifying diodes with 20ns reverse recovery time, enabling rectifiers and bootstrap circuitry to be integrated efficiently on the chip rather than off-chip. The technology is fully characterized for a temperature range of -40°C to 175°C.
The foundry process targets applications in consumer, medical, telecommunication infrastructure and industrial sectors requiring the 100V-200V voltage range and bidirectional isolation, such as PoE, ultrasound transmitter drivers, piezo actuators, and capacitive-driven micromechanics.
"The XT018 technology "provides exceptional dielectrically isolated high-voltage support. Such isolation makes it easier to design for short innovation cycles, is straightforward, and results in a faster time to market," stated Sebastian Schmidt, product marketing manager for X-Fab’s high-voltage product line.
The XT018 PDK is available now, and X-Fab says it will host a free webinar on the new XT018 process later this year.
XT018 deep trenches with active and shallow trench region. (Source: X-Fab)