Floadia G1 eFlash IP has exceeded 30,000 wafers shipment at Powerchip for system LSI customers

Floadia’s LEE Flash – G1 realizes Low-power and cost Effective Eflash for SoC and IoT

Tokyo, Japan, September 25th, 2018 – Floadia Corporation (Floadia), a leading provider of embedded flash semiconductor intellectual property (IP), and Powerchip Technology Corporation (Powerchip (PTC), TWSE: 5346), a leading global wafer foundry, today announced that Floadia LEE Flash G1 (G1) – embedded flash (eflash) IP has been adopted by 3 SoC and the shipment has exceeded 30,000 wafers on PTC’s 90nm process node (12 inch). G1 on Powerchip 90nm process node provides the lowest cost solution supporting density range up to 1Mb by adding 2 ~ 3 mask layers.

Floadia states that G1 IP addresses two fast growing product markets:

• SoC and IoT application with most cost-effective features and superior reliability guaranteeing 20 years data retention @ 85C, and
• Industrial and automotive grade market with highly reliable and very cost effective feature guaranteeing 20 years data retention @ 150C.

100K endurance is guaranteed for both applications.

Driven by fast growing demand for flash memory embedded into microcontrollers, bankcard and secure chips, Internet of Things (IoT) edge computing devices, and various System-on-Chip (SoC) devices, a cost effective and highly reliable eFlash IP is required. Despite continuous cost reduction efforts, the cost of dominant split gate eFlash solutions remained high. In contrast, Floadia G1 adds only 2-3 masking layers to base CMOS process (the lowest added cost in industry) and is qualified for highest level of reliability.

“Floadia G1 is 1T ONO based eFlash technology, which is a very cost effective and robust structure mass produced in Japanese IDM for automotive grade MCU for more than 20 years,” said Mr. Kosuke Okuyama, CEO for Floadia. “Powerchip has been a great partner for building a state-of-the-art 90nm platform, and we are pleased to engage with several customers and have made 3 of them enter mass production phase. We look forward to further strengthening the relationship with Powerchip in engaging with more customers of potential for high-yielding 90nm eflash platform”.

G1 is based on ONO storage transistor, with both program and erase operation performed by Fowler-Nordheim (FN) Tunneling Effect, which provides benefits of extremely low power consumption. G1 greatly reduces customer’s cost by adding very few additional masks, and by shortest test time and bake time. One of the most remarkable G1 features has been extremely short time to market, with only 15 months between project kick off and over 99% yield in mass production.

About Floadia Corporation

Floadia was established in 2011 by spin-outs of experienced engineers who were developing embedded non-volatile memory at Hitachi/Renesas for more than 20 years. Floadia licenses its intellectual property (IP), including manufacturing process and circuit designs. Floadia’s development team comprises not only circuit designers but also engineers with expertise in the manufacturing process. Currently Floadia has over 180 patents, filed and pending.

About Powerchip Technology Corporation

Powerchip Technology Corporation was established at Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park in December 1994. It provides professional wafer foundry service to major domestic and international semiconductor industry with 4,800 employees and capital NT$22.2 billion dollars.