Fairchild Semiconductor Unveils Technology Initiative for Microprocessors

Fairchild Semiconductor International (South Portland, ME), unveiled its technology initiative designed to support the power requirements of next-generation microprocessors for high-performance computers.In the next few years, Fairchild said, microprocessor requirements are expected to double from 20A requirements, while voltage requirements should drop lower than the present 1.5V and 2.5V levels. The company said it will meet the changes required for portable devices, such as notebook computers and PDAs, with its advancements in silicon and packaging."Fairchild's technology advancements are allowing dc-to-dc converter designers, particularly notebook designers, to meet the challenges of today's power-hungry CPUs," said Jon Klein, Fairchild's technical marketing manager."New surface-mount packages, such as the recently released Bottomless SO-8 and BGA, combine miniature packages with the thermal performance of much larger packages, while nearly eliminating the package resistance and increasing the power density," Fairchild said. The company added that its integration of the Schottky diode into the low-side MOSFET and its optimization of the silicon for low-side operation has improved the thermal characteristics of small surface-mount packages."New advancements in PowerTrench silicon technology are contributing to improvements in power density and switching efficiency," Fairchild said.Power MOSFETs are now optimized for dc/dc applications, reducing or eliminating certain loss components in dc/dc synchronous rectifier buck regulators.