United Microelectronics Corporation has announced the industry’s first 3DIC solution for RFSOI technology. Specifically available on UMC’s 55nm RFSOI platform, the stacked silicon technology reduces die size by more than 45%.

This becomes possible without any degradation of radio frequency (RF) performance. Thus, enabling customers to efficiently integrate more RF components to address the greater bandwidth requirements of 5G.

Resolves Issues in RF Interference

Recently, mobile device manufacturers pack more frequency bands in newer generations of smartphones. For that reason, UMC’s 3DIC solution for RFSOI addresses the challenge of integrating more RF front-end modules (RF-FEM). These are critical components in devices to transmit and receive data – in a device by vertically stacking dies to reduce surface area.

Furhtemrore, RFSOI is the foundry process used for RF chips such as low noise amplifiers, switches, and antenna tuners. Hence, utilizing wafer-to-wafer bonding technology, UMC’s 3D IC solution for RFSOI resolves the common issue of RF interference between stacked dies.

The company has received multiple patents for this process, which is now ready for production.

 “We are proud to lead the industry in offering this state-of-the-art solution utilizing our innovative 3D IC technology for RF-FEM. This groundbreaking technology not only solves the challenges of increased frequency band demands in smartphones in the 5G/6G era, but also helps in mobile, IoT, and virtual reality devices with faster data transfer by accommodating more frequency bands in parallel,” said Raj Verma, Associate Vice President of Technology Development at UMC. “We are excited to continue developing stacked die solutions to meet our customers’ RF needs, such as for 5G millimeter-wave, in the future.”

Robust Portfolio

UMC offers the most comprehensive RF front-end module IC solutions in the industry. Specifically, catering to a broad range of applications including mobile, Wi-Fi, automotive, IoT, and satellite communications. With over 500 product tape-outs completed and more than 38 billion RFSOI chips shipped, UMC’s family of RFSOI solutions are available in 8-inch and 12-inch wafers. In addition, they also come in a variety of technology nodes from 130nm to 40nm.

Aside from RFSOI technologies, UMC’s 6-inch fab (Wavetek Microelectronics Corporation) offers compound semiconductor technologies gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN). Also, RF filters to supplement the needs of RF-FEM applications.

6 May 2024