Tezzaron Announces Commercial 3D ICs

Apr14

By Webmaster • Posted in Press Releases

April 14, 2004

Naperville, IL – April 14, 2004

Tezzaron Semiconductor has announced commercially available products built with its FaStack™ 3D integration process. These fully integrated three-dimensional circuits (3D ICs) are available for general purchase; Tezzaron has already received purchase orders. Tezzaron plans to ship two types of commercial parts by the end of this quarter: micro-controllers and memory devices.

The FaStack™ micro-controller is a “super-8051” that runs from 5 to 100 times faster than all other 8051-type devices. Much of the extra speed is due to 3D integration of memory layers on top of the processor circuitry. Featuring a RISC core and up to 512 KBytes of stacked SRAM layers, this device achieves up to 200 MHz operation, providing 200 MIPS and 100 MFlops.

The FaStack™ 3D memory device is a fast synchronous burst SRAM with 1, 2, or 4 Megabits in standard packaging. Because stacking produces a tiny footprint, these same devices could employ chip-scale packaging of only 7mm x 7mm – one-sixth the size of the standard 119-BGA.

Both of these devices are built with a 0.18-micron geometry. The initial roll-out features two-layer parts; soon thereafter, production will scale up to offer 3-layer parts, with 5-layer parts to follow. Early production is run on a small scale, so limited numbers of parts will be available for early orders.

FaStack™ 3D ICs are built using wafer-scale 3D stacking and an extremely high-density array of through-silicon connectors. Each 3D IC occupies a smaller area than a comparable two-dimensional device, and its average interconnect length is much shorter, providing faster access and consuming less power. Unlike a “3D Package”, which contains separate devices (typically connected at the edges), each 3D IC is a single device, integrated vertically as well as horizontally for highest performance and maximum density.

In addition to the general-purchase parts described above, Tezzaron is sampling semi-custom devices such as 3D CMOS sensors and 3D cross-point switches. Purchase orders are already in hand for some of these devices as well. Additional products in the FaStack™ family are currently in development.

Tezzaron Semiconductor is a privately held corporation with offices in Illinois and Singapore. For product briefs and company information, visit www.tezzaron.com.

The Tezzblog