Motorola Touts Tech Advance

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A significant advance in semiconductor process technology is pointing the way to future electronic products that have more function and features than those of today, while costing less. Motorola, Inc.'s (NYSE: MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector, an industry leader in embedded systems for the communications and networking markets, is previewing its latest semiconductor process technology innovations, including its 0.10 micron advanced CMOS technology during the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) this week. For the first time, a paper detailing Motorola's HiPerMOS 8 (or "HiP8") 0.10 micron CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) platform technology is being presented at the meeting. The HiP8 technology realizes a 30 percent reduction in line width over the current HiP7 0.13 micron generation. This shrink is engineered to enable a 50 percent reduction in chip size by increasing gate density and reducing SRAM bitcell area, while enhancing performance. The increased density and functionality is expected to spawn a wide range of new products for networking, computing, embedded processing, and wireless and transportation applications. For example, the consumer wireless arena can expect to realize a decisive advantage in customer value for such applications as 3G handheld devices. This high performance, low power technology is expected to be manufactured using Motorola's fourth generation of copper interconnect. Designed as a true platform technology, HiP8 supports dual/triple gate oxide, analog, and non-volatile memory modules. The technology is designed with the flexibility to support a broad range of low power, high performance and silicon on insulator (SOI) applications. In addition, the HiP8 platform is "foundry compatible" with respect to design rules and electrical targets, and is capable of easily supporting third party designs and libraries. The HiP8 technology is expected to complete process certification in December 2002. "This HiP8 platform technology shows our continuing commitment to rolling out advanced technologies to transform the way people live, work and play. We are focused on building technologies that enable system on chip solutions across a wide range of applications," said Dr. Louis C. Parrillo, corporate vice president and chief technology officer of the Semiconductor Products Sector for Motorola. "This CMOS platform technology, combined with our capability to integrate our own breadth of advanced modules, forms the foundation of Motorola's embedded leadership. Looking out even further, Motorola is exploring materials that will meet industry needs for generations to come." Motorola Inc.