FUJI ELECTRIC JOURNAL 2003 Vol.76-No.3

IC Technology

Present Status and Prospects for Fuji Electric's IC Products and Technologies
Yoshio Tsuruta, Eiji Kuroda
Based on the core technologies of high voltage technology, CMOS analog technology, and digital technology, Fuji Electric is planning product development centered about ICs for power supply units and FPDuse driver ICs. In particular, Fuji is developing advanced technologies such as low power consumption technology in ICs for power supply units and high voltage process device technology for high-voltage products, and is incorporating those developments into products. Fuji has also developed a unique complex sensor technology that has been used in applications such as auto-focus ICs for cameras and pressure sensors for automobiles. This paper presents an overview of the new products and new techniques that leverage these advanced technologies.

Power Supply Controller for Low Standby Power
Hiroshi Maruyama, Hironobu Shiroyama, Kouji Sonobe
In recent years, concern for the problem of global warming has heightened and energy saving has become an important consideration for all electrical and electronic products. Especially for the AC adapters used in TVs, VCRs, office equipment, PCs, etc., which are plugged into AC outlets, the actual time of use is much shorter than the time spent in a standby state. Consequently, low power consumption during standby is desired. Accordingly, Fuji Electric has developed a current mode control IC equipped with a built-in function to decrease standby power consumption. An overview of the current mode control IC is described in this paper.

3-channel DC-DC Converters Control IC for Liquid Crystal Display
Masanari Fujii
There has been a recent migration of the mainstream display for electronic devices -- from CRT monitors to liquid crystal displays that feature a thin profile, small size, lightweight and low power consumption. However, demand for cost reduction is severe, even for the power supply of a liquid crystal display; and a power IC that enables a reduction in the number of externally attached components is needed. Previously, the power supply for a large-screen liquid crystal display required a buffer for driving an externally attached power MOSFET, however, Fuji Electric has developed and commercialized a 3-channel power control IC for liquid crystal displays which, without buffers, is capable of the direct driving of a power MOSFET. This paper describes the special features of the control IC and presents an example of an application circuit.

1.8V Start-up 2-channel DC-DC Converter Control IC
Ichiro Nomura, Yasunori Nakahashi
In response to the trends toward miniaturization and longer continuous operating time of digital still cameras and other portable electronic devices, it has become even more important to achieve low power consumption during standby and normal operation, as well as low voltage operation due to a reduction in the number of installed batteries. In response to these needs, Fuji Electric has commercialized the FA7715J, a 2-channel output DC-DC converter control IC that operates for power supply input voltages in the range of 1.8 to 10V and is capable of direct driving of a low-consumption power MOSFET. The FA7715J has a standby current consumption of 7 microA (typ.), is housed in a SON16 package having a thickness of 0.95 mm or less, and enables electronic devices to achieve longer continuous operation and smaller size.

Small-package 5-channel Output DC-DC Converter Control IC
Masayuki Yamadaya
Portable electronic devices, such as digital still cameras, have advanced rapidly in the past few years to achieve enhanced performance and multi-functionality. At the same time, their dimensions have been reduced remarkably to realize smaller and thinner sizes. These devices are constructed from a wide assortment of component parts and have various voltage requirements. The power supply circuit occupies a rather large percentage of the available area in these devices, and consequently, there is demand for a reduction in the number of component parts. In response to these requests, Fuji Electric has developed the FA7716R, a 5-channel output DC-DC converter IC that is housed in a 36-pin small package and realizes a large reduction in the number of externally attached components.

Series Regulator IC
Hirohisa Arai
There is strong demand for semiconductors to be made smaller, thinner and consume less power for use in portable electronic devices such as hot-selling PDAs, digital still cameras and cellular phones. In such systems, a low power consuming current-type series regulator is necessary to achieve a stable supply of power. Fuji Electric has developed and commercialized a series regulator IC as a power IC for use in portable devices. This series regulator IC realizes lower power consumption and smaller size (SOT23-5 package). An overview is presented in this paper.

Micro DC-DC Converter Chip-sized Module
Zenchi Hayashi, Yasushi Katayama, Masaharu Edo
A micro, high efficiency, switching DC-DC converter module has been developed in response to the rapidly advancing needs for smaller, thinner, and lighter weight portable electronic devices. Usually, an inductor previously had occupied a large volume as an externally attached component. An innovative, small and thin power supply module has been realized by stacking up an IC chip and utilizing thin film technology to fabricate an inductor on a ferrite wafer and by adopting a substrate structure that supports modules. This paper describes the special features and development of this micro DC-DC converter module.

PDP Scan Driver IC Technology
Hitoshi Sumida, Atsuo Hirabayashi, Hidenori Kobayashi
This paper describes a device isolation technique and a high-voltage lateral SOI (silicon on insulator) device, developed by Fuji Electric for plasma display panel (PDP) scan driver ICs. Dielectric isolation using SOI is presented as suitable isolation technique and a 3rd generation SOI-IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) that realizes improved performance such as high current handling capability is described as a high-voltage lateral SOI device. Both of these are incorporated into Fuji's latest PDP scan driver IC, which was commercialized in 2002.

PDP Address Driver IC Technology
Gen Tada, Kazuhiro Kawamura, Masaru Saitou
The PDP (plasma display panel), having the characteristics of large screen size and thin design, is becoming popular for use as a household television. The key to further growth of this market is lower cost, and accordingly, there is demand for lower priced driver ICs. In response to this demand, Fuji Electric has developed process device technology that reduces the chip cost to 2/3 that of a conventional address driver IC, and has incorporated this technology into 3rd generation address driver IC products. This paper presents an overview of Fuji's process device technology and 3rd generation address driver IC products.

High Resolution Compact AF Module with 7microm Pixels
Kazuhiro Matsunami
Powerful-zoom compact cameras are being downsized and there is demand for a high resolution, compact autofocus (AF) system. By adopting a novel IC package and reducing the sensor pitch to 7 microm, Fuji Electric has developed a compact, high performance AF module that enhances the range resolution. This AF module is intended for in 3X and higher zoom film and digital still cameras. Its structure and features are introduced in this paper.

0.6microm Analog C/DMOS Device Process Technology
Akio Kitamura
The hybrid technology utilized in power ICs for mixed use of highvoltage, analog C/DMOS devices and 0.6 microm CMOS devices is described. As an enhancement to conventional power IC technology, requests have increased for high-performance digital control of this technology. This paper presents an overview of the device process technology developed in response to those requests. Gas

Analog Integrated Circuit Design Technology
Hisashi Onoue,Akira Fujisawa, Takato Sugawara
ICs are being manufactured with more dense integration and higher functionality, and their product lifecycle is becoming shorter. Accordingly, Fuji Electric is reusing design resources and is developing an automated design system. This paper introduces: (1) the analog macro cell library, (2) analog circuit design verification techniques such as full chip simulation using an analog description language or Monte Carlo simulation, and (3) automatic mask layout design techniques such as symbolic layout and analog automatic routing.

Gas Gauge IC with SMBus Interface
Tomomi Nonaka, Masashi Akahane, Motomitsu Iwamoto
In recent years, demand has increased for notebook PCs capable of accessing the Internet and receiving or sending e-mail from anywhere. However, since the battery in a notebook PC will only last for approximately 2 to 3 hours, accurate indication of the remaining battery power is much needed. Fuji Electric has developed a compensated technique for correctly calculating the remaining power based on battery characteristics and has embedded a software implementation of this technique as a microcomputer program into a gas gauge IC to realize highly accurate monitoring of the remaining battery power. This paper presents an overview of Fuji's newly developed gas gauge IC.

Multi-channel Power Supply Control IC for Switching DC-DC Converter using Master Slice Method
Kimiyoshi Mizoe
As product cycles are shortened for recently popular portable devices such as cellular phones and digital still cameras, it has also become necessary to shorten the development period for the power ICs that are installed in these portable devices. In the development of power supply control ICs for DC-DC converters, the adoption of a master slice method that enables function modification just by changing the metal interconnects has resulted in the realization of a short development period of 5 weeks. This paper describes the functions, configuration and method of CAD-based development of a configurable power control IC in which step-up or step-down voltages can be configured for up to 4 channels.

Low On-resistance Trench Lateral Power MOSFET in a 0.6microm Smart Power Technology
Mutsumi Sawada, Masanobu Iwaya, Naoto Fujishima
A low on-resistance trench lateral power MOSFET has been combined with Fuji Electric's existing 0.6 microm rule Bi-C/DMOS process for use in the output stage of a power IC designed for portable electronic devices. The integrated trench lateral power MOSFET (TLPM), having a withstand voltage of 35V and a specific on-resistance of 16mmm2 achieves 50% lower on-voltage than a conventional planar lateral power MOSFET of equivalent withstand voltage. This paper presents an overview of the process and device technology.

Recent Developments of the Microscopic Analysis for Semiconductor Devices
Akihiko Ohi
As recent developments concerning microscopic analysis for semiconductor devices, this paper reports two new analytic methods and the principles thereof. The first method is failure analysis for gate oxides using OBIC combined with FIB. This method is able to specify the locations of breaks in the gate oxide within 1 micron for macroscopic- sized devices, and has been used for the failure analysis of oxides in trench-type MOS devices. The second method is 2-dimensional carrier mapping of the cross-section of a MOSFET by using a scanning capacitance microscope (SCM). It has been found that the channel length of the trench lateral power MOSFET is 0.9 microm.

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