X-FAB is one of the world’s leading specialty foundry groups for analog/mixed-signal semiconductor technologies with a clear focus on automotive, industrial, and medical applications. As a pure-play foundry, we provide manufacturing and strong design support services to our customers that design analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) and other semiconductor devices for use in their own products or the products of their customers.
Unlike most conventional semiconductor foundries, X-FAB does not simply stick to the ITRS Roadmap, trying to develop ever-smaller and faster CMOS process technologies.
The ITRS Roadmap is our guideline - our central aim, however, is to enhance and expand the CMOS technologies it recommends with additional, special analog functions and modular options.
X-FAB thus creates a broad range of new mixed-signal process families for applications in various areas, from the automotive and medical sector to industrial applications, communication products, or consumer electronics.
Our state-of-the-art CMOS and SOI platforms can be complemented with specialties ranging from analog/mixed-signal functions to high-voltage options, embedded non-volatile memories, optical, RF and bipolar elements, or the implementation of microelectromechanical sensor technologies.
30 nm RF SOI platform
XR013 is our 130 nm modular, feature-rich RF SOI technology solution suitable for multiple air interface standards and both fixed and mobile applications, such as smartphones, infrastructure and WLAN connectivity devices. The high isolation and low insertion losses make XR013 a good fit for RF switching applications in front-end modules for 2G, 3G, 4G LTE Advanced and 5G New Radio designs. Low-noise amplifiers demonstrating low noise figure, high gain and high linearity thanks to NFET options complete our XR013 RF SOI offer.
Key features:
Low RonCoff figure of merit for RF switches with surface-potential-based (PSP) compact models, including advanced modelization of a high-impedance SOI substrate
Low-noise, high-gain, high-linearity NFET options for RF switch and low-noise amplifier integration
2.5 V CMOS platform with hybrid Cu/Al metallization with optional thick Cu levels
Both low- and high-value diffusion and poly resistors including a 3 kΩ/sq p-poly resistor
High-density vertical RF metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitor and vertical parallel plate capacitors (VPP)
Large catalog of high-Q, symmetric, octagonal inductors for multiple metallization configurations
1.2 V- and 2.5 V-based RF varactors
Optional low-leakage 1.2 V CMOS module
Si-proven RF reference kits
Si-proven analog and digital IP
Si-proven eFuse and supporting IP
Si-proven general-purpose input/output (GPIO) libraries including electrostatic discharge (ESD) solutions
Cadence-based front-end design flow with back-end support for both Cadence and Mentor
X-FAB MEMS Foundry offers unsurpassed experience, expertise and execution with its high-volume MEMS manufacturing service. As the first ever pure-play MEMS foundry, X-FAB draws on more than 20 years MEMS manufacturing experience and continues to meet the new demands for this rapidly expanding and exciting group of technologies in terms of time to market, quality assurance, high yield and supply-chain management tools.
Operating from six fabs for MEMS and CMOS processes and an ecosystem of manufacturing and design partners, X-FAB is the proven choice for process development and installation, process capability, design support and long-term manufacturing stability.
As well as customer specific process installation, X-FAB offers a range of in-production standard process blocks, open-platform processes and IP blocks for key MEMS applications that enable fast time to market.
X-FAB MEMS Foundry offers an established, fast and professional service for contract manufacturing of MEMS and micro-machined structures that can grow with your high-volume business. Specific solutions are available for:
CMOS & MEMS Sensors
Wafer Level Packaging and 3D integration
Silicon-based microfluidics
X-FAB's MEMS manufacturing is now focused on two locations, Erfurt and Itzehoe, both in Germany. However, X-FAB leverages the operations of all six of its manufacturing sites for the manufacturing of MEMS, which complements X-FAB’s other foundry solutions addressing optical, CMOS analog/mixed-signal and high voltage applications. A core competency of X-FAB is the monolithic integration of MEMS devices with CMOS technology to meet size and performance requirements. X-FAB also offers access to one of the broadest range of manufacturing materials in the semiconductor industry.
X-FAB is the first pure-play foundry to provide comprehensive processing technologies for wide bandgap (WBG) materials Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). We are offering foundry services for those new materials on the scale of silicon, using the existing silicon manufacturing lines. We are processing GaN-on-Si wafers in our modern 8” fab in Dresden, Germany and SiC wafers in our 6” fab in Lubbock, Texas, USA. By running the non-silicon wafers on the same lines as Si-wafers, our customers have access to high-quality and cost-effective foundry solutions. It allows customers to import their projects into a stable and trusted, fully automotive-qualified fab environment which supports output levels that are comparable with silicon yields.
X-FAB has a long history in processing SiC and GaN, ranging back to early 2013, with just a few customers starting to engage with those “exotic” materials. In this time, we gained significant knowledge and expertise and developed a business model that allows even less experienced customers to create their own SiC power devices or GaN HEMT devices.
With our sites in Dresden and Lubbock focused on serving the growing markets, the company is fully prepared for the expected acceleration of SiC and GaN device shipments – enabling key applications, such as charging applications, electric vehicles and advanced power management systems.
Heterogeneous 3D integration of semiconductor components is a main driver within the microelectronics industry towards higher integration complexity, enhanced system performance and economies of scale. Our technology offering of 3D integration and wafer-level packaging methods enables solutions for system integration of analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits , sensors and MEMS. These components are essential for the next-generation microelectronics products of our customers in the key markets automotive, industrial, medical and mobile communication.
