SMIC Offers Differentiated 0.13um Low-Leakage Embedded Flash Manufacturing Process

Provides Lower Costs, Better Performance and Greater Endurance

SHANGHAI, Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981), China's largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry, announced today its 0.13um Low-Leakage (LL) embedded Flash (eFlash) process has entered volume production stage.  SMIC's 0.13um LL eFlash technology is a continuation of SMIC's Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) offering to provide customers a differentiated solution to address performance, power consumption and cost.

SMIC's 0.13um LL eFlash technology provides customers with the following advantages:

• High endurance: Up to 300k read-write cycles, three times higher than industry standards;
• Cost-effective solution: innovative process with fewer manufacturing steps;
• Low-Leakage process for extremely low power consumption applications;
• Better reliability and performance: Copper Back-End of Line (Cu-BEoL) process suitable for higher current density applications.

The technology incorporates a comprehensive set of Intellectual Properties (IP), such as PLL, ADC, LDO, USB, and more. Coupled with its low-power consumption, high performance, and high reliability, the 0.13um LL eFlash process is available for production for a wide range of low-leakage MCU applications which includes mobile handsets and smart cards. In addition, SMIC's 0.13um LL e-Flash offering is targeted to include automotive electronics, RF applications, and the Internet of Things (IoT) market segments.

"We are encouraged by our customers' rapid acceptance of our differentiated 0.13um LL eFlash offering," said Mike Rekuc, Executive Vice President of SMIC Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "In particular, we are delighted to see existing designs in volume production such as MCUs for Touch Controller ICs (TCIC). According to IHS market research, the worldwide demand for TCIC for capacitive touch panels will reach about 2.7 billion units by Y2017 which is a 21% CAGR from Y2012."