Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. in San Diego is working together with IBM Corp. to develop future generations of Peregrine’s UltraCMOS silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) radio frequency complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (RF CMOS) integrated circuit process.

IBM will manufacture the next-generation UltraCMOS RF ICs for Peregrine in a 180-nanometer process that Peregrine and IBM developed together at IBM's 8-inch semiconductor manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vt.

Peregrine’s UltraCMOS technology is for applications such as space satellite systems; RF signal conditioning; broadband communications including 4G LTE equipment and base stations; multi-band mobile wireless devices; mobile DTV/CATV; and the RF front-end of mobile phones.

This development marks the first commercial use of 8-inch wafer processing for silicon-on-sapphire process -- a variation of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology that incorporates an ultra-thin layer of silicon on a insulating sapphire substrate, Peregrine officials say.

Migration to 8-inch wafers helps move the process to advanced 180-, 130-, and 90-nanometer nodes.

Collaboration between the two companies began in 2008 as the ability to use CMOS for RF designs emerged as a viable alternative to compound semiconductor processes such as gallium arsenide (GaAs). The benefits of CMOS include reliability, cost-effectiveness, high yields, portability, scalability, and integration.