IN Brief:
- SK keyfoundry has developed bidirectional SCR-based on-chip EMC protection for automotive semiconductor designs.
- The technology has been applied to products built on the company’s 130nm BCD process.
- The approach can reduce external protection components in PMICs, motor drivers, and automotive power-control ICs.
SK keyfoundry has developed bidirectional silicon-controlled rectifier technology for on-chip electromagnetic compatibility protection in automotive semiconductors, applying the structure to products built on its 130nm BCD process.
The Bi-SCR protection technology is designed to guard automotive power-management ICs, motor drivers, and power-control devices against positive and negative transient voltage events. By integrating bidirectional overvoltage protection into the chip, the approach can reduce dependence on external transient-voltage-suppression diodes while preserving board-level EMC robustness.
Automotive electronics operate in an environment shaped by switching loads, electric motors, long wiring harnesses, exposed connectors, and increasingly dense power architecture. Transient events can enter through supply rails, communication interfaces, and actuator connections, making EMC protection part of the core device architecture rather than a peripheral compliance task.
BCD processes remain central to this class of devices because they allow analogue, logic, and power functions to be integrated on the same die. That combination is well suited to PMICs, motor-control ICs, gate drivers, and body electronics, but it also increases the importance of foundry-supported protection structures. If protection is left mainly to external board components, layout area, bill-of-materials cost, and routing complexity all rise.
The same automotive integration pressure is visible across the vehicle semiconductor stack. Imagination’s involvement in an automotive chiplet programme reflects the direction of higher-performance vehicle compute, while Infineon’s 8Tx8Rx radar MMIC production shows how sensing hardware is also being pulled into denser and more scalable electronic architectures. Vehicle platforms are now depending on more capable silicon and tighter system-level validation across compute, sensing, and power control.
EMC protection becomes harder as integration increases. Smaller boards, higher switching speeds, and more distributed electronic modules leave less tolerance for parasitics, noise coupling, and component count growth. Protection structures must absorb transient energy while controlling leakage, capacitance, latch-up susceptibility, die area, and performance impact across process and temperature variation.
External TVS devices remain important in many systems, particularly at exposed connectors and high-energy interfaces, but integrating protection closer to sensitive circuitry can simplify the board-level design. Reduced component count can save PCB area, improve routing, and support more compact modules. It can also reduce assembly complexity in applications with multiple protected channels.
The commercial value depends on characterisation. Automotive customers need validated models, design rules, stress-test data, and clear application guidance before relying on on-chip protection in safety- and reliability-sensitive environments. The protection device must be predictable enough for circuit designers to use it without adding large external margins that erode the intended space and cost savings.
Vehicle electrification is adding another layer of demand. More motors, pumps, actuators, lighting systems, battery-management functions, and 48V subsystems increase the number of power-control devices distributed around the vehicle. Each module needs to survive electrical disturbance without causing unnecessary board growth or qualification delay.
SK keyfoundry’s Bi-SCR development fits that trajectory by moving protection capability deeper into the foundry platform. As automotive electronics become more power-dense and more distributed, reliability features such as EMC protection, diagnostics, monitoring, and security are being pushed into the silicon technologies that underpin the next generation of vehicle control systems.
