Peregrine Semiconductor to Develop 0.25 Micron Silicon On Sapphire Manufacturing in Australia; Market Demand Accelerates the Move to Next Generation Technology.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

HOMEBUSH, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2000

Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., a leading developer of high performance integrated circuits for the optical and wireless communications markets, today announced that it is developing the first wafer fabrication capability for 0.25 micron (0.25 um) integrated circuits in its Australian fab.

Peregrine Semiconductor Australia Pty. Limited (PSA), based at the Olympic Games site in Homebush, NSW, Australia, is building a class one cleanroom to operate state-of-the-art equipment capable of 0.25um production with a roadmap to 0.15um production.

This $30 million development will result in a major advance in technology beyond the current 0.5um production CMOS and Peregrine's patented Ultra Thin Silicon on Sapphire, or UTSi(R), CMOS. The new technology will move to 0.25um with four layers of metal on UTSi substrates. The class one cleanroom will include a wafer stepper, high angle ion-implanter, vertical furnaces, rapid thermal annealer (RTA), advanced metrology tools and other support equipment. M&W Zander, which has experience in building fabs for TSMC, Chartered Semiconductor and SGS Thomson, will build the cleanroom.

UTSi CMOS is a manufacturing process that uses a thin layer of silicon on an insulating and clear sapphire substrate to enhance the performance of the CMOS process by as much as two generations of process geometry reduction. This patented version of CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) produces UTSi circuits that compete in the rapidly expanding wireless and fiber optic markets at higher frequencies and data rates with lower power consumption than standard bulk CMOS circuits, while sill using standard CMOS equipment and processing.

UTSi technology meets the enhanced performance requirements of next generation wireless systems such as EDGE, GPRS, 3G, IEEE802.11a and Bluetooth, while maintaining the extremely low power requirements needed for handheld systems. Data rates above one Gigabit per second (Gbps) require fiber optic connections and electronic chips which are capable of transmitting and receiving the optical data at constantly increasing data rates. Many of the current systems operate at 2.5 Gbps and are moving to 10 Gbps (the equivalent of 2500 movies being transmitted simultaneously) and above.

Peregrine Semiconductor plans to introduce a family of transceiver products early next year and will depend on this next generation technology to move the data rates to 10 Gbps and beyond. Additionally, the optically transparent nature of UTSi wafers enables unique packaging and assembly solutions that will be necessary for these next generation opto-electronic transceivers.

Peregrine's wireless and photonic products require the advanced characteristics of UTSi technology and future generations of the technology may open up many new high growth market opportunities. PSA will be the primary source for all of Peregrine's future wireless and photonic products. The 0.25um UTSi technology capability enables PSA and its parent company to begin addressing these high growth markets. The wireless semiconductor market is expected to grow from $11 billion in 2000 to over $19 billion by 2003. Similarly, the photonics market is predicted to grow from $8 billion to over $13 billion according to IDC, an industry forecasting company. This new generation of technology will support Peregrine's plans to supply enabling devices to these markets.

Peregrine Semiconductor and UTSi CMOS products are already proven in cellular base stations and in mobile devices. These devices will be used as a starting point for higher performance and more highly integrated products based on 0.25 micron UTSi CMOS from PSA. Peregrine has over 200 active customers and has garnered phase-locked loop (PLL) and mixer IC design wins at major wireless product manufacturers including Qualcomm, Alcatel and Mini-Circuits. With their next generation process, these highly integrated RFIC products are being designed to both substantially reduce costs and power and to minimize board area for the next generation of mobile phones and wireless Internet appliances.

About Peregrine Semiconductor

Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. designs, manufactures and markets high-speed communications integrated circuits for the broadband fiber, wireless and satellite communications markets. Using its patented Ultra-Thin-Silicon (UTSi(R)) CMOS process, Peregrine has launched a series of radio frequency IC products for high growth applications, including CDMA digital cellular, Bluetooth personal area wireless networks and wireless remote sensing and control. Peregrine, headquartered in San Diego, California, also has established design centers and satellite operations in Chicago, Illinois, Aix-en-Provence, France, and Sydney, Australia. Peregrine has established a mission to leverage its unique UTSi process to become a leading supplier of high-speed communications ICs for wireless and wired communications, compelling photonic components for advanced optical networks. The company's UTSi process offers high performance coupled with the integration, scalability, simplicity and flexibility of conventional CMOS. Additional information on Peregrine Semiconductor is available at its worldwide Web site: www.peregrine-semi.com.