Silicon Storage Technology (SST) and Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) said their SuperFlash Gen 4 platform is now ready for mass manufacture following automotive-grade certification.
The platform integrates the embedded SuperFlash Gen 4 (ESF4) memory from US-based Microchip Technology’s subsidiary with UMC’s 28HPC+ manufacturing process.
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The 28-nanometre (nm) node, which refers to the size of transistors used in chip production, is widely regarded as a balance point between performance, power efficiency and cost, making it suitable for automotive electronics where reliability and tight cost control are essential.
According to SST, the ESF4 memory was developed alongside UMC to meet automotive Grade 1 standards.
The technology has been qualified to Automotive Electronics Council Q-100 Grade 1 requirements, allowing it to function across a temperature range from -40°C to +150°C.
Microchip licensing business unit vice president Mark Reiten said: “As automotive requirements accelerate, developers need solutions that drive efficiency, speed up time to market and satisfy stringent industry standards. To meet these needs, UMC and SST have delivered a robust 28nm AG1 solution which is now ready for the production of customer designs.”
According to the press statement, the platform requires fewer additional manufacturing steps to integrate memory into a chip compared with comparable 28nm offerings from other foundries.
Reducing these steps can lower production costs and streamline fabrication.
In terms of performance, the memory delivers fast read speeds, supports more than 100,000 rewrite cycles, and is designed to retain data for over 10 years at elevated operating temperatures.
A 32MB memory block was tested under automotive conditions and recorded no data errors, while achieving peak manufacturing yields of 100%.
SST said the platform is intended for automotive controllers, which manage functions such as powertrain operations, safety systems and in-vehicle electronics.
Customers currently using SST’s 40nm automotive memory platform are being encouraged to evaluate the 28nm option as they transition to more advanced chip designs.
UMC technology development vice president Steven Hsu added: “Through our close collaboration with SST, we have successfully launched the ESF4 solution, which has been fully integrated into the widely adopted 28HPC+ platform.”
