GlobalFoundries Unveils 130CBIC SiGe Platform for High-Performance RF in AI, IoT, and Mobile Applications

GlobalFoundries announced the production release of its 130nm complementary Bi-CMOS (CBIC) silicon germanium (SiGe) platform at its Technology Summit in Santa Clara, California. The platform, developed at the company’s Burlington, Vermont facility, features NPN transistors exceeding 400 GHz ft/fmax and PNP transistors surpassing 200 GHz, targeting applications in smartphones, wireless infrastructure, optical networking, satellite communications, and industrial IoT.

The 130CBIC platform supports low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) for cellular smartphones, reducing current consumption and noise figure to extend battery life. In datacenters, its PNP transistors enable amplifier topologies with high gain-bandwidth at lower power for high-speed analog and optical networking. The platform also supports mmWave industrial radar applications above 100GHz, enabling high-resolution sensing and distance ranging in compact designs.

Shankaran Janardhanan, senior vice president of GF’s RF product line, stated that the platform combines transistor performance with a low-mask count process to support RF innovation and accelerate market entry. The platform is available for design with a process design kit (PDK) and for prototyping through GF’s GlobalShuttle multi-project wafer program, with shuttles scheduled for 2025 and 2026. RF reference designs are accessible via ...