IN Brief:
- SK keyfoundry will provide Elmos with 130nm wafer-production capacity through 2037.
- The process uses deep-trench isolation to support integrated high-voltage mixed-signal designs with low substrate current.
- Elmos plans E550.01 serial production and a compact eFlash memory cell for 2027.
Elmos Semiconductor has secured wafer capacity on SK keyfoundry’s 130nm process through 2037, extending an 18-year manufacturing relationship that previously centred on 350nm technology and establishing a long-term production route for a new generation of automotive mixed-signal devices.
The agreement moves the collaboration onto a process intended to support more highly integrated mixed-signal and high-voltage designs. SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch pure-play foundry in South Korea, will provide the manufacturing capacity, while Elmos is already applying the platform to its E550.01 smart four-channel electronic fuse controller.
Deep-trench isolation is a central feature of the process. SK keyfoundry says the structure provides effective electrical isolation and supports high-voltage designs with low substrate current, an important requirement where analogue, digital, and higher-voltage functions have to coexist on the same die without excessive interaction.
The E550.01 provides the first product example. Designed to protect and control multiple current paths, the device is intended for zonal vehicle electrical architectures, where power distribution is increasingly organised around electronically controlled local zones rather than long runs of individually fused wiring. Initial samples are available, with serial production scheduled for 2027.
Elmos and SK keyfoundry also plan to introduce a compact eFlash memory cell during 2027. Embedded non-volatile memory can support configuration, calibration, control, and diagnostic functions without requiring a separate external memory device, although the companies have not disclosed density, endurance, or retention specifications for the planned cell.
Dr Arne Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of Elmos Semiconductor SE, said: “The additional wafer capacity ensures planning certainty through 2037 and supports our supply reliability and continued growth.” The length of the agreement is relevant in automotive electronics, where qualified devices can remain in production for many years after their initial design-in.
The choice of 130nm also illustrates the continuing value of mature speciality semiconductor processes. Automotive mixed-signal and power-control devices do not automatically benefit from moving onto the smallest available geometry; voltage handling, analogue precision, isolation, embedded memory, qualification, cost, and long-term production stability can carry more weight than transistor density.
Zonal vehicle architectures are likely to increase the semiconductor content of power distribution as electronic protection replaces some conventional passive fusing. That places more functionality inside the controller, which has to isolate faults reliably, manage several current paths, communicate with other vehicle electronics, and operate within demanding thermal and electrical conditions.
Integrating control, sensing, memory, and high-voltage interfaces on a suitable mixed-signal process can reduce the number of separate devices required around those functions. The benefit depends on process stability and long-term availability as much as circuit density, particularly where automotive qualification and service requirements stretch over extended product cycles.
The capacity agreement consequently provides more than near-term wafer allocation. It gives Elmos a defined manufacturing framework around which future products and additional process options can be qualified, while SK keyfoundry gains a long-duration customer programme for its 130nm platform.
The first milestones are already defined: E550.01 samples are available, serial production is scheduled for 2027, and the partners intend to introduce their compact eFlash cell in the same year. Those steps will determine how quickly the 130nm programme develops from secured capacity into a broader automotive mixed-signal platform.
