MARIN, Switzerland -- EM Microelectronic-Marin SA, the chip making subsidiary of The Swatch Group Ltd., said today (October 28, 2002) that it is ready to begin production of mixed-signal circuit that operates at 0.5-V implemented on a fully depleted silicon-on-insulator substrate and 0.5-micron process technology. The company is refining the process technology, with the addition of non-volatile memory, and plans to offer foundry services based on the specialist low-power process technology.
The chip that EM Microelectronics is preparing for production is believed to be the first chip operating at a guaranteed voltage lower than 0.5-V over a full temperature range, the company said.
The operation of circuits at low voltages tends to reduce the maximum clock frequency achievable in digital circuits and general performance in analog circuits. But for many simple tasks clock frequencies of a few kilohertz or megahertz can be adequate and slowing the clock reduces power consumption. In addition, as power consumption is based on a voltage squared law, operating at low voltages further reduces power consumption and increases power efficiency.
EM Microelectronic did not quantify the power saving that is achievable with its 0.5-V process.
Intel Corp. has a process technology that allows the voltage to be reduced to 0.9-V to achieve reduced computing performance but maximum power efficiency of its XScale microprocessors.
Founded in 1975, as part of the Swiss watch industry's migration to microelectronic-based time-keeping, EM Microelectronic has over 25 years experience of designing and producing low-power and low-voltage chips.
"The chip being produced is a sophisticated circuit to be used in the watch industry, containing more than 50% analog cells. The analog portion of the circuit is operating at 0.5-V, while the digital part works even down to 0.35-V," said Mougahed Darwish, president of the management board of EM Microelectronic, in a statement. "We are also developing a voltage reset IC with an astonishingly low reset threshold voltage of 0.7-V. This IC will be of ideal use with the coming generation of sub 1-V microcontrollers, and is perfect in portable applications, which are becoming increasingly complex."
EM Microelectronic is developing its 0.5-micron SOI process technology with properties including threshold voltage down to 0.4-V and operating up to 225 degrees centigrade, the company said. The process include dual gates, three metal layers, silicide and elevated source and drain. EM claims to able to achieve silicon film thicknesses of 40 nanometers.
Commercial use for the FD SOI technology is targeted at applications requiring either ultra-low-voltage operation or high performance at extremely high temperature. It is suitable for handheld and battery-powered applications. It also includes automotive engine control, field-powered RF tags used in very hot environments, automotive immobilization, smart card IC, well-logging equipment and analog front-ends for pressure, temperature, magnetic and optical sensors.
EM is trying attempting to add EEPROM memory cells to its process and plans to offer foundry services to customers interested in using the technology.
