Peregrine Semiconductor and IBM Microelectronics will jointly develop the former's UltraCMOS silicon on sapphire process technology. The proprietary technology will be used for the 180nm process at IBM's 200mm facility. It is the first commercial use of this size wafer processing for the patented silicon on insulator technology, used to create RF ICs for handset, commercial, industrial, military and aerospace devices. UltraCMOS is composed of stack of field effect transistors manufactured on an insulating sapphire substrate. It can pass high-power RF signals and has been used to replace GaAs-based RF switches in projects in LTE, HSDPA and WCDMA digital mobile TV, brachband communications and in automotive and satellite systems. The first 180nm RFICs have sampled and will be commercially produced next year.
