The 0.13-micron generation platform, applied to analogue integrated circuits (ICs), is able to offer an optimised combination of processes and devices, according to rated voltage, performance, reliability and cost, for automotive analogue circuits and eNVM on a single chip.
Analogue ICs are used in a wide range of automotive applications and with the transition to electric vehicles and increase of vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the analogue IC market is expected to see strong growth going forward. As a consequence, this has created a requirement for a versatile, dedicated automotive platform that can meet a wide range of requirements related to automotive applications. As eNVM and a microcontroller unit (MCU) have not been realized on a single chip, the total IC area tends to be large.
Toshiba and Japan Semiconductor currently offer three LDMOS structures and a very wide device lineup, including eNVM, that are selectable to meet diverse requirements. Now they have developed a highly reliable platform for analogue ICs that meets AEC-Q100/Grade-0, an international standard in automotive reliability.
There has been a trade-off between on-resistance (RonA), a key parameter for LDMOS, and breakdown voltage between drain and source (BVDSS). The lower the RonA, the better the performance with a constant BVDSS.
Toshiba and Japan Semiconductor have been able to confirm that two kinds of LDMOS, with stepped-oxide or LOCOS located between the drain and source, have a maximum RonA that is 44% better than STI-based LDMOS. They also determined mechanisms to evaluate the advantages of LOCOS-based LDMOS’s device reliability, failure rates and ESD tolerance.
eNVM from Floadia Corporation (Floadia LEE Flash G1) embedded in the platform is provided with only three additional masks and can satisfy high-reliability requirements for automotive analogue power devices without impacting on base platforms and devices. They also avoid malfunction in the eNVM by optimising layout to protect it from the noise caused by switching LDMOS in the analogue circuits.
Toshiba and Japan Semiconductor plan to start sampling automotive semiconductors with the newly developed platform in December 2022.
- Details of the achievement were reported at the IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD) 2022, an international conference held in Vancouver, Canada and online on May 22 to 25.
