ST H9SOI_FEM: 0.13um RF SOI Technology for Front End Module Monolithic Integration

Pietro Maestri, RF Product Line Director

SOI Consortium Forum, Tokyo, January 21st , 2016

Mobile RF Evolution driven by LTE RF band proliferation• The exponential growth of mobile data has driven up wireless spectrum need• 3GPP Release 12 standardized in Q1’15 : > 40 RF bands• 3GPP Release 13: RF spectrums from 600 MHz to ~6 GHz (LTE)

Antenna proliferation / challenge• Primary & secondary antennas to support 3G Rx Diversity & 4G MIMO• Extended RF bands support forcing to LB / MB / HB / multi-feed antennas• Transmit antenna swap to optimize uplink performance at cell edges,

avoiding dropped calls

2

Carrier Aggregation (CA) combinations are prolifera ting• Carriers in within the same RF band or across multiple RF bands • Current LTE CA FEM degrading RF performances Vs classical LTE FEM • CA band combinations : 28 for 3GPP Release 11

115 for 3GPP Release 12

January 26, 2016

RF SOI adoption in FEM• RF SOI market growth (> 25% AGR) still driven

by the RF Switch ! • RF SOI is the most viable technology

• RF SOI widely used for Antenna Switches, Diversity path, PAD, Antenna tuner

• RF SOI quickly gaining ground against GaAs in PA market

• RF SOI is driving the FEM integration thanks to:• Fully Integrated solution

• Smart and reconfigurable Front End

• Better Insertion loss and linearity for RF Switch

• Better matching capability

• Cheap process using large volume CMOS fabs

3

Source: ST Internal Data

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

WW

RF S

OI

TA

M (

KW

afe

rs)

December 2015 update

RF Switches

Antenna Tuner

PA *

Total

January 26, 2016

RF SOI FEM Integration: The Next Step 4

Benefits of Monolithic Integration• Reduced size and cost

• Improved performance

• Reducing inter-die signal routing and constrains of MCM

• Taking advantage of shorter and faster on die interconnection

• Avoiding non predictable behavior in interfacing devices independently designed

• Simplified supply-chain

• Reduced and simplified product development cycle time

Front-End integration is the path for small, high performing and cost effective solutionsto address 3G LTE/4G CA and Wi-Fi 802.11ac

LB Super PAD

MB Super PAD

HB Super PAD

H9SOI_FEM

RF cellular

Transceiver

MIPI

RFFE

PPA

Main RxLNA

LNA

LNA

LNA

High

Band

Mid

Band

LNA

LNA

Low

Band

PPA

PPA

PPA

PPA

High

Band

Mid

Band

GSM-H

Low

Band

GSM-L

Div/MIMO Rx

Low

Band

Mid

Band

High

Band

PA

GSM LB

GSM HB

PA

PA

HB 3G/LTE

PA

PA

MB 3G/LTE

PA

PA

LB 3G/LTE

PA

HB PA mode

switch

MB PA mode switch

LB PA mode

switch

HB Main

antenna switch

MB Main

antenna switch

LB Main

antenna switch

DPDT

RX/Tx

LB & MB

Primary

Antenna

RxLB & MB

Secondary

Antenna

HB

Primary

Antenna

RX/Tx

HB

Secondary

Antenna

Antenna

swap switch

Rx

MIPI

RFFEHB Rx MIMO

antenna switch

LB Rx MIMO

antenna switch

MB Rx MIMO

antenna switch

LNA

LNA

LNA

LNA

LNA

LNA

Lowest Harmonics and IL on the Low Band Switch Tx path Benefit by integrating LNA/Switch

on the diversity side January 26, 2016

• Technology RoadmapSubstrate, IP, Process

• Design Expertise

• Design ServicesModeling, Packaging,

Testing

TechnologyPartner

• High quality fabs

• Scalable Capacity

• Best in Class TTM & customer service

Top ClassManufacturing

• Switch Ron.Coff, Linearity

• Power Amplifier Efficiency

• LNA low noise figure

• On-board Filtering

Performance& Integration

ST is fully committed to RF SOI technology with its H9SOI_FEMproviding to the market

a long term technology roadmap and high capacity foundry services

ST Value Proposition 5

January 26, 2016

H9SOI_FEMHigh performance Technology developed for FEM integration

6

ST H9SOI_FEM maintains best RF Switches performances

when integrating PA and LNA devices

January 26, 2016

H9SOIFEM Roadmap

Switch

Device

Switch

Device

2015

Production Validation Development Plan

GO2 RF MOS Gen 30.18µm/3.3V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 30.18µm/3.3V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 10.22µm/2.5V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 10.22µm/2.5V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 2

0.18um/3.3V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 2

0.18um/3.3V Vg

2016

Cellular SP9TCellular SP9T

Ron*Coff 185fs 140fs 120fs

GO2 RF MOS Gen 2

0.18um/2.5V Vg

GO2 RF MOS Gen 2

0.18um/2.5V Vg

170fs

I.LH2/H3

Cellular

LTE 3G/4G

Cellular

LTE 3G/4G

Cellular

LTE 5G CA

Cellular

LTE 5G CA

0.4dB @1GHz-75/-75dBm (**)

0.3dB @1GHz-85/-80dBm (**)

0.25dB @1GHz-90/-85dBm (*)

Cellular

Power

PA

Cellular

Power

PA

LNALNA

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 1

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 1

NLDEMOS

0.3um

NLDEMOS

0.3um NLDEMOS

0.4um

NLDEMOS

0.4um

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 3

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 3

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 2

Interleaved

Cascode Gen 2

maxPAEGain3G PA FoM

73%14dB

77%14dB

75%>20dB80 FoM

NFmin

GO1 MOS 0.13um/1.2VGO1 MOS

0.13um/1.2V

0.4dB @2GHz, fully compatible with all Switch optio ns

0.4dB @1GHz-75/-75dBm (*)

0.3dB @1GHz-85/-80dBm (*)

Beyond Device FoM, ST roadmap is driven by

standards evolution and performances in application

>80 FoM

Switch

Perf

Switch

Perf

(*) Pin : 26dBm

ILH2/H3

January 26, 2016

7

H9SOI_FEM BEOL Stacks 8

January 26, 2016

M4TC

M1

M254 mΩ/

155 mΩ/

M412 mΩ/

2.5 µm

M354 mΩ/

M4ALU

M1

M254 mΩ/

155 mΩ/

M312 mΩ/

2.5 µm

M3ALU

M1

M254 mΩ/

155 mΩ/

M47.5 mΩ/

4 µm

M354 mΩ/

25 mΩ/

1.2 µm

M4

5 mΩ/

4 µm Cu

M5

M1

M254 mΩ/

155 mΩ/

M47.5 mΩ/

4 µmM3

5 mΩ/

4 µm Cu

M47.5 mΩ/

4 µmM4

7.5 mΩ/

4 µm

M3TCTA

Aluminium BEOL Thick Copper Options

R=9.23 mΩ/ R=7.88 mΩ/ R=2.65 mΩ/R=3.67 mΩ/

• 4 different BE stacks 4 different DK in a single Design Flow

H9SOI_FEM RF Switch performances 9

H2 Harmonics (dBm)the Lower the better (Pin @26Bm)H2 Harmonics (dBm)the Lower the better (Pin @26Bm)

Best Ron of the market, H9SOI_FEM RF Switches Low Ron has strong factor of merit on top of Low Ron*Coff

RF Switch

Lower Ron = Better HarmonicsLower Ron = Better Harmonics

2012 2013 2014 2015

Available in DKQualified for production

185170

140120

207Extrinsic FoM: Ron*CoffExtrinsic FoM: Ron*Coff

Path1

Path2

Path3

Path4

0.420.440.460.480.5

0.520.54

Ron

Ron Level (Ohm.mm)

ST Competition

January 26, 2016

RF Switches 10

State of the art RF Switch performances for both Cellular and Wi-Fi

SP9T :-85 dBm H2 @ 26 dBm

Wi-Fi 802.11ac SP2T @ 5.9 GHz

-140

-130

-120

-110

-100

-90

-80

-70

-60

-50

-40

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35

Har

mon

ic2

(dB

m)

Pin (dBm)

Fundamental = 1GHzH2 level 140fs = -85dBm @ 26dBm Pin

Fundamental = 1GHzH2 level 140fs = -85dBm @ 26dBm Pin

Cellular

SP9T IL versus frequency

RF Switch

S21@1GHz185fs: -0.4dB140fs: -0.3dB

S21@1GHz185fs: -0.4dB140fs: -0.3dB

RO

N

COFF

COFF

COFF

COFF

COFF

COFF

COFF

COFF

January 26, 2016

GO1 0.13 µm MOS optimized for LNA

• 1.2V / GO1 gate oxide

• Very low noise figure measurements : • 0.4 dB @ 2 GHz

• 0.6 dB @ 6 GHz

• >0.4dB better than 0.18µm lithography

11

January 26, 2016

L = 0.13µm , NF = 0.6 dB

L = 0.18µm , NF = 1 dB

STMicro

Competition

0.13µm 1.2V MOS allows best in class Cellular LNA performances(Wide band LTE requirements and WiFi high frequencies)

LNA

CMOS SOI PA Challenges and Success 12

January 26, 2016

A Power Amplifier is a solution based on technologies, transistors, passives, biasing, contr ol circuits, and innovation to provide an amplified signal to an output load.

From a System on Board to a System on Chip

Best in Class Cellular RF SOI 3G/4G PA performances (FoM=80) Wi-Fi PA key parameters demonstrated @ 5.9 GHz

Wi-Fi PA Meas

Gain at 21dBm@ 5.9 GHz

12.6 dB

ICC at 21dBm 165 mA

Pmax@ 5.9 GHz

28 dBm

IN OUT

PA

Cellular 3G/4G PA Meas

Power Gain (28dBm) 27.5 dB

Pmax 31.2dBm

P1dB (average) 30.5dBm

PAE@28dBm2 stages

39%

PAE max 50%

ACLR 5MHz@28dBm -41dBc

ACLR 10M@28dBm -54dBc

Factor Of Merit (FOM)ACLR + PAE @ 28 dBm

8080

H9SOIFEM Design Ecosystem 13

Digital flow AMS/RF flow

DKAdd-on

Libraries Design kits

• ESD KIT Library• Pads Library (WB, FC, WLCSP)•2.5V Standard cells and IOs library compatible with MIPI (MIPI IP available)• Digital Cadence Flow

• Active devices: MOS transistors Pcells for RF SWITCH, LNA and PA

• High Quality Factor Passive devices Pcells: inductances, capacitances

• 4 metal stacks to addressall applications specificities

• Close collaboration with major EDA companies to provide state-of-the-art tools

• Substrate Modeling Task Force to develop CAD tools addressing Hx < -95dBm

• Fully integrated Thermal Simulation CAD Flow under development

NEW

January 26, 2016

ST for RF SOI 14

Assembly &Packaging Facilities

Customer-OrientedService & SupportFailure Analysis

Dedicated R&D activity(process, design, tools)

to develop specific devicesin partnership

RF SOI Power devices

Industrialization ExpertiseExperienced Supply Chainhandling Billion Units/year

More than a pure foundry,

a long term partnerwith a global

manufacturingstructure

January 26, 2016

Summary : ST Added Value

Excellent RF Switch Linearity

Outstanding RF SOI PA Factor of Merit : 80

Complete integration (LNA, Switch, PA, filtering) with no performance compromise

Very Predictive silicon behavior from accurate mode ling

Reliable process with very short Cycle time (protot yping / production)

15

January 26, 2016