MUNICH, Germany — A few months after its inception as a management buyout from Renesas, foundry services provider Landshut Silicon Foundry GmbH (Landshut, Germany) has launched a prototyping service for fabless chip vendors. In addition, the company is starting to develop its own IP.

With its prototyping service, implemented as Multi-Wafer Projects, the company hopes to address European customers in the first place. "In Europe, in particular in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, there is a vivid scene of fabless chip vendors," explained LFoundry CEO Michael Lehnert.

The 0.15 micron process the company is offering aims at RF applications in the first place, Lehnert explained. In terms of market positioning, he sees the company positioned somewhere between high-end high-volume foundries such as AMDs 'Foundry Company' in Dresden and X-Fab (Erfurt, Germany). "Perhaps the best comparison would be Austriamicrosystems", Lehnert said.

The CEO also explained the company's plans to expand its services spectrum. Beyond his current 0.15 micron offer, he plans to offer similar services at 0.13 and 0.18 micron as 0.35 micron geometries. In addition, the company hopes to establish USPs by developing own IP, in particular with Cu technologies. The latter includes the implementation of passive elements on silicon such as inductors, explained Chief Technology Officer Gerhard Spitzlsberger.

Against the background of the current market crisis, the managers see their company in a favorable situation, compared to their competitors. Lehnert pointed out that former parent company Renesas guarantees the utilization of the fab. This, however, limits the capacity available for external customers. Nevertheless, Lehnert quantifies the capacity for his foundry services to about 10.000 eight-inch waferstarts per month. Having already signed orders from two customers, Lehnert expects the Multi-Wafer Project service to ramp up in the Q2/Q3 time frame.

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