Pushing beyond the capability of standard CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)-based analog circuit design, Jazz Semiconductor recently announced availability of a 17 GHz Vertical PNP module on its 0.18-micron RFCMOS platform.
Pushing beyond the capability of standard CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)-based analog circuit design, Jazz Semiconductor recently announced availability of a 17 GHz Vertical PNP module on its 0.18-micron RFCMOS platform. The new module advances analog circuit design especially for high voltage, complementary drive, or amplification requirements. Vertical PNP (VPNP) module reportedly enables greater levels of integration than are currently available with existing CMOS, RFCMOS, and BiCMOS products.
VPNP module reportedly achieves 17 GHz transit frequency, with a peak Beta (transistor gain) of 50. It also includes a deep N-well for better device isolation and improved performance.
VPNP can be paired with either an advanced SiGe NPN transistor module (for a complementary SiGe BiCMOS process), or with an NFET device (N-type field-effect transistor) to achieve high-current complementary push–pull functions needed in circuit designs that require balanced performance, such as disk drive preamplifiers or laser drivers, according to Jazz. Use of this complementary pair can also enable higher speeds over a wider operating range, a requirement for many analog circuits today.
Vertical PNP is an example of a process that allows circuit designers to reduce their bill of materials, or die cost, by increasing the number of functions contained on a single die, says the company. When coupled with other features in Jazz 0.18-micron RFCMOS and SiGe BiCMOS platforms, VPNP module allows for more integration of functions typically relegated to discrete devices scattered on a system board.
“The vertical PNP module is another example of our commitment to quickly respond to the needs of our customers in their… pursuit of analog integration for new wireless and consumer products where reducing analog/RF subsystem cost and size are critical to product success,” says Paul Kempf, Jazz Semiconductor CTO and CMO. “Analog integration requires more than standard CMOS to meet all of the analogsub-system requirements.”
Jazz Semiconductor, an independent semiconductor wafer foundry, focuses on specialty CMOS process technologies for the manufacture of highly integrated analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices.
—Frank J. Bartos, executive editor, Control Engineering, [email protected]
