EM Microelectronic to produce FD SOI-based chips

EM Microelectronic has announced that it is ready to start producing ultra-low voltage and ultra-low-power IC using fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD SOI). The company claims that the chip to be the first IC in FD SOI operating at a voltage lower than 0.5V over the whole voltage and temperature range.

The FD SOI technology is suitable for handheld and battery-powered applications, as well as automotive engine control, field-powered RF tag used in very hot environments, automotive immobilization, smart card IC, well logging equipment and analog front-end for pressure, temperature, magnetic, and optical sensors.

"The chip contains more than 50 percent of analog cells. The analog portion of the circuit is operating at 0.5V, while the digital part works even down to 0.35V," said Mougahed Darwish, president.