Ziptronix Inc., a provider of patented, low-temperature direct bonding technology for 3D integration, today announced a limited exclusive patent licensing agreement with IO Semiconductor (IOsemi) for application of its ZiBond technology for use in RF front-end devices for consumer mobile products. The agreement also marks a new high-volume application market for Ziptronix’s proprietary ZiBond technology.

IOsemi’s ZEROcap CMOS technology is based on a mature 0.18µm CMOS process. It provides RF performance with lower insertion loss and better linearity than other available technologies. This performance is achieved while delivering smaller footprints and lower cost than competitive devices. Implementing ZiBond further enables the low-cost manufacture of RF switches using standard CMOS processes. Because the bond itself is as strong as or stronger than the bulk material, it stands up better to post-bond processes than other bonding technologies.

“Licensing ZiBond for use in RF front-end applications adds a highly manufacturable, high-volume bond to our technology arsenal,” said Mark Drucker, CEO of IO Semiconductor. “It provides a key enabling technology that has allowed IOsemi to deliver better-performing, lower-cost RF solutions than our competitors. We have implemented this process with a top-tier manufacturing partner and have achieved world-class yields and reliability.”

Ziptronix’s proprietary ZiBond process allows for the formation of low-temperature, direct, nonadhesive wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer bonds in a wide variety of semiconductor materials by using a very thin layer of materials such as silicon oxide or nitride to facilitate direct bonding. Already established in volume production for back-side illumination (BSI) image sensors, the license agreement with IOsemi takes ZiBond into high-volume manufacturing for RF front-end devices as well, further proving its value to the consumer mobile market.