FEATURED NEWS

CEO interview: What’s next after Tower’s turn-around?

May 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of Russell Ellwanger taking over as CEO of specialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Migdal Haemek, Israel), which now trades as TowerJazz. And so EE Times Europe asked Ellwanger about Tower’s last ten years and about the futu

When Did Analog Steal Digital’s Mojo?

Name two semiconductor companies whose names begin with the letter T that used to mainly make digital ICs but now think analog electronics is more exciting and remunerative!…

They are Texas Instruments and Tower Semiconductor, which trades as TowerJazz. Other analog-focused companies beginning with T are available, but these two came to my mind as they have been making the news recently

TowerJazz and UCSD demo first 5G 256-element wafer-scale phased array transmitter

TowerJazz and UCSD have collaborated to demonstrate the first 256-element (16 x 16) wafer-scale phased array transmitter with integrated high-efficiency antennas operating at 56 to 65 GHz frequency range. First time success was achieved for the wafer-scale RFIC using TowerJazz’s own proprietary models, kit and the mmWave capabilities of its 0.18-micron SiGe BiCMOS process, SBC18H3.

“This is yet another leap forward in the area of phased arrays that we are proud to announce. We have a track record of successful collaboration with TowerJazz and the ability to bring this innovative design from UCSD to market depends strongly on TowerJazz’s SiGe BiCMOS foundry process which enables lower-cost phased arrays through integration of multiple circuit functions and high efficiency antennas on the same silicon chip,” said Dr. Gabriel M. Rebeiz, distinguished prof. of EE, UCSD.

Scientific CMOS image sensor from Gpixel and TowerJazz announced

Gpixel has announced the development of a backside-illuminated scientific CMOS image sensor that utilizes TowerJazz’s TS18IS CMOS image sensor process. The GSENSE400-BSI sensor is a 4 MPixel CMOS image sensor with an 11 µm pixel size that can achieve frame rates up to 48 fps. The sensor features an anti-reflective coating for either UV sensitivity or visible light sensitivity, and a low dark current of below 0.03 e-/p/s at -50oC. Furthermore, the sensor features sensitivity from 270nm–300nm for its UV-optimized version, and from 300nm–400nm for its VIS-optimized version, in addition to a 96 dB dynamic range. The GSENSE400-BSI is suitable for use in such applications as scientific imaging, biometrics, spectrometry, factory automation, astronomy, and surveillance applications.

TowerJazz and Semtech Corporation Announce Significant Production Ramp of Proprietary Technology

TowerJazz and Semtech Corporation announced the successful production ramp of various products in TowerJazz’s fab. TowerJazz and Semtech share a strong history of partnership and process transfer activities across multiple business units.

“Our proprietary processes presented a significant integration challenge to our foundry partners. TowerJazz was able to provide the combination of technical capability and a dedicated, experienced engineering staff which allowed the rapid qualification and ramp in several of our new product families,” said Asaf Silberstein, Senior Vice President, WW Operations for Semtech Corporation.