STMicroelectronics breaks the 20nm barrier for cost-competitive next-generation microcontrollers

STMicroelectronics breaks the 20nm barrier
for cost-competitive next-generation microcontrollers

• First STM32 microcontroller based on new technology to sample to selected customers in the second half of 2024.
  
  
• 18nm FD-SOI with embedded phase change memory (ePCM) to deliver a leap in performance and power consumption.
  
  

Geneva, March 19, 2024 – STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronic applications, announces an advanced process based on 18nm Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator (FD-SOI) technology with embedded phase change memory (ePCM) to support next-generation embedded processing devices. This new process technology, co-developed by ST and Samsung Foundry, delivers a leap in performance and power consumption for embedded processing applications while allowing larger memory sizes and higher levels of integration of analog and digital peripherals. The first next-generation STM32 microcontroller based on the new technology will start sampling to selected customers in the second half of 2024, with production planned for the second half of 2025.

Remi El-Ouazzane, President of Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF products Group at STMicroelectronics, said: “As a leading innovator in the semiconductor industry, ST has pioneered and brought to our customers FD-SOI and PCM technologies for automotive and aerospace applications. We are now taking the next step to bring the benefits of these technologies to developers of industrial applications starting with our next-generation STM32 microcontrollers.”

Technology benefits

Compared to ST 40nm embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) technology used today, 18nm FD-SOI with ePCM vastly improves key figures of merit:

• More than 50% better performance-to-power ratio
• 2.5-times higher non-volatile memory (NVM) density enabling larger on-chip memories
• Three times higher digital density for integration of digital peripherals such as AI and graphics accelerators and state-of-the-art security and safety features
• 3dB improvement in noise figure for enhanced RF performance in wireless MCUs

The technology is capable of 3V operation to supply analog features such as power management, reset systems, clock sources and digital/analog converters. It is the only sub-20 nm technology supporting this capability.