Vitesse 0.5 micron H-GaAs process reduces cost of high performance.

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 1995--Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:VTSS) Monday announced its latest H-GaAs (High-integration Gallium Arsenide) digital IC process capable of combining million transistor integration with microwave performance.

This fourth-generation process, designated H-GaAs IV, provides a VLSI platform that enables implementation of high-performance systems for telecommunications, data communications and test instrumentation at price levels far below ECL and BiCMOS technology. It is comparable to state-of-the-art deep submicron CMOS.

H-GaAs IV is a 0.5 micron scaled version of the H-GaAs III process currently in production. Chip density has been doubled compared with the previous 0.6 micron technology by aggressive scaling of the five-layer metal interconnect. The improved packing density yields smaller die sizes, lower cost and improved speed-power performance. To further reduce cost, plastic packaging solutions replace much more expensive ceramic packaging.

``H-GaAs IV continues a series of GaAs process technology breakthroughs made at Vitesse that bring H-GaAs technology to market as the commercial mainstream technology of choice for high- performance systems,'' said Lou Tomasetta, president and chief executive officer of Vitesse.

``Vitesse has focused on reducing process cost through improvements in density and manufacturability. The result is a technology that offers a low-cost, higher-performance alternative to CMOS.''

H-GaAs IV implements refractory metal self-aligned gate transistors, one layer of local interconnect and four layers of standard aluminum global interconnect. Polyimide dielectrics and planarization are used to reduce interconnect capacitance and improve routing density.

In addition, the basic transistor structure is improved to achieve a transistor cutoff frequency (Ft) in excess of 35 GHz and a delay-power product of less than 6 femto-Joules (fJ), resulting in unloaded gate delays of less than 70 ps.

Power dissipation is below 0.1 micro W/MHz/gate at clock frequencies above 600 MHz. At comparable linewidths, high- performance BiCMOS and CMOS processes achieve gate delays of only 200-300 ps and cannot support clock rates above 100-200 MHz.

The new technology supports supply voltages from 1.2V to 3.3V with less than 20 percent change in gate speed. Clock frequencies on VLSI designs up to 200K gates using Direct-Coupled-FET-Logic (DCFL) can exceed 800 MHz. For MSI circuits, using Source-Coupled-FET-Logic (SCFL), 10GHz clock rates can be obtained for broadband telecom applications.

Both DCFL and SCFL designs may be integrated on the same die for applications requiring extremely high performance combined with high integration and low power.

Vitesse's H-GaAs IV process achieves these unprecedented speed, power and integration levels by utilizing proven silicon MOS manufacturing techniques to combine high integration with the high performance inherent in Gallium Arsenide.

H-GaAs is far less complex to manufacture than ECL or BiCMOS. It takes only 15 mask levels to process a five-layer metal H-GaAs IV wafer, compared with 20 or more masks for high-performance silicon processes. As a result, H-GaAs IV offers a higher-performance technology that is on the same price-performance curve with state- of-the-art CMOS and is much more cost-effective than either ECL or BiCMOS technologies.

Initial products utilizing the H-GaAs IV process will be announced later this year.

Vitesse Semiconductor is a leading supplier of high-performance integrated circuit solutions. The company's products, consisting of custom, semicustom and standard products, are used in a wide variety of applications, including telecommunications, data communications, computers and ATE/instrumentation. Vitesse has headquarters in Camarillo. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: H-GaAs is a trademark of Vitesse Semiconductor Inc.

CONTACT: Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., Camarillo

Judy Calvin, 805/388-3700

or

Kalman Communications, Los Angeles

Jerry Kalman, 310/477-9664