United Microelectronics Corporation, a leading global semiconductor foundry, announced the industry’s first 3D IC solution for RFSOI technology. Available on UMC’s 55nm RFSOI platform, the stacked silicon technology reduces die size by more than 45% without any degradation of radio frequency (RF) performance, enabling customers to efficiently integrate more RF components to address the greater bandwidth requirements of 5G.
As mobile device manufacturers pack more frequency bands in newer generations of smartphones, the company’s 3D IC solution for RFSOI addresses the challenge of integrating more RF front-end modules (RF-FEM) - critical components in devices to transmit and receive data – in a device by vertically stacking dies to reduce surface area. RFSOI is the foundry process used for RF chips such as low noise amplifiers, switches, and antenna tuners. 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."
Click here to learn more about UMC's RFSOI Technology.
