TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry leader, today announced a ramp for its radio frequency silicon-on-insulator (RF SOI) 65nm process in its 300mm Uozu, Japan fab. TowerJazz has signed a contract with long-term partner, SOITEC, a leading semiconductor materials supplier to guarantee a supply of tens of thousands of 300mm SOI silicon wafers, securing wafer prices for the next years and ensuring supply to its customers, despite a very tight SOI wafer market.
With best in class metrics, TowerJazz’s 65nm RF SOI process enables the combination of low insertion loss and high power handling RF switches with options for high-performance low-noise amplifiers as well as digital integration. The process can reduce losses in an RF switch improving battery life and boosting data rates in handsets and IoT terminals.
According to Mobile Experts, LLC, a market research firm for mobile communications, the mobile RF front-end market is estimated to reach $22 billion in 2022 from an estimated $16 billion in 2018. TowerJazz’s breakthrough RF SOI technology continues to support this high-growth market and is well-poised to take advantage of next-generation 5G standards which will boost data rates and provide further content growth opportunities in the coming years.
TowerJazz is also proud to announce its relationship with Maxscend, a provider of RF components and IoT integrated circuits, ramping in this new technology.
“We chose TowerJazz for its advanced technology capabilities and its ability to deliver in high volume while continuously innovating with a strong roadmap. We specifically selected its 300mm 65nm RF SOI platform for our next-generation product line due to its superior performance, enabling low insertion loss and high power handling,” said Zhihan Xu, Maxscend Chief Executive Officer.
“We are delighted to see the strong adoption of 300mm RF SOI through this large capacity and supply agreement with TowerJazz to augment our already significant 200mm RF SOI partnership. TowerJazz was the first foundry to ramp our RFeSi technology to high volume production in 200mm and continues as one of the industry leaders in innovation in this exciting RF market with advanced and differentiated offerings,” said Paul Boudre, SOITEC Chief Executive Officer.
“We are thrilled about our continued partnership with Maxscend as they bring breakthrough products to market, manufactured using our latest 300mm 65nm RF SOI platform. Also, we are very pleased with our SOITEC partnership to secure tens of thousands of 300mm RF SOI wafers to feed the strong demand in our 300mm Japan factory,” said Russell Ellwanger, TowerJazz Chief Executive Officer.
