IBM Gets SiGe with It

By Suzanne Deffree -- Electronic News, 8/5/2005

IBM today announced it has reached 130nm silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) foundry technology.

Big Blue was the first foundry to offer SiGe BiCMOS technology in 1995, and today’s news comes when the industry at large is just reaching 180nm SiGe BiCMOS, noted Kenneth Torino, an IBM director of foundry products in the analog/mixed-signal arena.

The announcement came with the introduction of two foundry technologies: 8HP, with more than two times the performance of IBM’s previous generation 180nm SiGe to serve more intense markets; and 8WL, a lower-cost, low-power variation targeting consumer applications.

“The high volume in silicon germanium has been in wireless and storage, in applications like cell phones and wireless LANs. So we’ve had a dual roadmap,” noted Torino. “In the wireless space, we don’t go for the highest performance because it isn’t required.”

IBM believes target products for the advanced technology include emerging safety systems for automobiles, including radar at 24GHz for blindside detection and at 77GHz for collision warning or advanced cruise control; 60GHz Wi-Fi chips; software defined radios for cellular handsets; and high-speed A/D and D/A converters for applications like data acquisition, direct-to-baseband radio receivers and signal synthesis.

The 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology is being produced in IBM’s 200mm Burlington, Vt., fab.